Broken Soul
by Leigh-koi
Summary: Leigh Potter moves to a new town in hopes to forget the pain from war against Voldy and ungrateful wizards/witches, but what happens when she unknowingly steps into another one against strange creatures with holes in their bodies? Warning: FemHarry
1. Leaving

Disclaimer: I don't own or make a profit off of Harry Potter and Bleach.

A/N: Hi everyone. Just doing a little editing here and there. Nothing too major. I MAY combine a few chapters because as you can see, I haven't even began to write about my plot line yet so I wasn't sure if it seemed to be dragging a bit. I hope not, but still...

"Speech,"

_Thoughts_

_"Parseltongue"_

_***_

Chapter 1: Leaving...

This was it. This was the moment Leigh and everyone else in the wizarding world of England and Scotland, have been waiting for as she saw two flashes of red and green light clash together, faster than the human eye could see. However, to the Girl-Who-Lived, Leigh Lillian Potter, it was the exact opposite. To her ,it was as if these last few seconds were hours long. She wanted to feel surprised when Voldemort's wand slipped from his fingers and the green light of the killing curse reverted back to its owner, striking him in the chest.

Leigh's breathing was harsh and shallow and her expression was practically nonexistent as she watched the shock on her enemy's face as the snake lord fall to his death. He fell onto the burnt ground rather gracefully, strangely enough. She watched him fall to the ground, not making a move… not noticing the fleeing death eaters get away from a one-way trip to Azkaban Prison. As she continued to watch Voldemort's dead body, she ignored the screams of happiness roaring in everyone's heart. She couldn't look away from the snake-man for some reason. Somehow, despite all the terror he caused everyone here today and herself, for the passed seven years, she couldn't help but feel a grudging respect for him.

It was difficult to explain, but she understood perfectly. This man lying dead on the ground, was the prime example of what Leigh could have become if she had not been able to open her heart to Ron and Hermione. Leigh and Voldemort had similar life styles when they were young. Both got picked on by other kids and lived in abusive families or orphanages, but somehow she was able to see a bright side. She had hope for her future when she lived with the Dursley's. Leigh hoped that one day she would find the happiness that she needed. Unlike her, Voldemort hadn't had the hope to search. He never had friends, but instead devoted followers that feared him, as well as a deranged Bellatrix Lestrange. She felt as though she still hasn't quite found it, but it's closer everyday. At least, she hoped so. The thought made her feel a little sorrow, but she never dared shed any tears for him. After everything great, horrible, but great, it would seem dishonorable to mourn his death. Voldemort had known perfectly well that his intentions were evil from the very beginning when he asked Professor Slughorn about Horcruxes.

***

Three hours have passed since the final battle and that's exactly how long people have been in the Great Hall partying their hearts out. She felt bitter that everyone was able to get over years of pain so quickly. Leigh was irritated that everyone can get over their loved ones death so quickly too. She sighed in irritation. In reality she did know the reason. They didn't lose anyone the way she did.

Leigh couldn't sit still anymore and listen to everyone's cheerful laughter, so she subconsciously made her way up to the headmaster's office under her invisibility cloak. She couldn't bring herself to talk to anyone anymore. She couldn't blame anyone for wanting to celebrate, She really couldn't, but her heart was too heavy for any celebrations, even though it was in her honor, or so she heard. The girl mentally thanked Luna when the odd, but wonderful friend came to her side, and as if knowing what Leigh longed for, she shouted out a crazy name for a creature that no one else believed could possibly exist, was in the room. Leigh took advantage of everyone's distraction, flipped the cloak over her small, athletic body, and hurried out of the hall.

Her movements were purely instinct now, as her mind went numb. She couldn't think straight anymore as she walked passed the secret entrance into the office she hadn't been inside for almost a year. Looking around, she couldn't stop herself from giving a small, sad smile. The office hadn't changed a bit. It was almost as if Hogwarts had wanted to protect the last remaining dignity it had besides the Room of Requirement from the invading Death Eaters. Although, the only person that had been allowed to enter the office was Severus Snape for being Dumbledore's man ever since Voldemort killed her mother.

Well, what could she say? Leigh would be lying if she didn't say that it was a shock for her that Professor Snape, the meanest, snarkiest man in Hogwarts had been great friends with her mother when they were younger, let alone had been in love with her. Until a few hours ago she never wanted to acknowledge how brave and honorable he had truly became over time, but now she realized what a mistake that was when he was bitten in the neck by Nagini because Voldemort selfishly thought he was the owner of the Elder wand. Now she couldn't help myself in thinking about all the times he saved her life. The cursed broom in first year, sort of defending her against Argus Filch when he thought his precious devil-cat was dead. In her third year, attempting to shield her and her friends against Remus when he was in his werewolf form. He'd stood right in front with both arms spread wide, ready to take the hit (or bite). She wasn't even sure if he had his wand in hand at the time. He had done so much for her over the years, including helping in her search for a way to destroy a few horcruxes without her knowing until the end. Even though his protection came to Leigh because of being the daughter of Lily Evans Potter, he still sacrificed himself to help her destroy Voldemort.

When she arrived inside the office, she looked up, almost startled when she heard a sudden rush of more applause and cheering coming from the portraits hanging on the walls. The noise made her feel like she just woke up from a seven-year long dream. Despite the paintings on the walls, the only one she wanted to see this very moment was an old man with half-moon spectacles. She spotted him at once, having the largest frame out of all the former headmasters and mistresses of this school.

"My dear girl," Albus began. "I cannot possibly describe how impeccably proud I am of you right now."

She looked away, feeling ridiculously shy like a first year all over again. Leigh looked back up to see the most sparkling eyes she'd ever seen in the old man's wrinkled eyes. She could swear that he looked like he wanted to shed some tears any minute now. She opened her mouth, but no words would form. She wasn't sure what to say anymore. Most of the conversations they ever had together were generally about Voldemort, and now that he was no more, she suddenly felt nervous to speak to him.

"Then don't. He's gone now. I was able to gain possession of the Elder wand just as you wanted," She said almost breathily. "But I don't want the wand anymore."

"Indeed so," The former headmaster said.

"I'll hide it away, so no one can challenge me and the life of the Elder wand will end. I will be its final master." Leigh concluded.

"I believe I agree whole-heartedly with your idea. If I may ask, why are you alone? Where are Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley?"

Leigh would bet anything that her face turned pasty when he asked her that question. She did not want to think about what happened, but the moment Professor Dumbledore asked her that question she felt her memory return to her mind like the Hogwarts Express slammed into her brain at top speed. Her breathing became unsteady and she looked away from the portrait once again. Her breath came out in short gasps as she lost myself in the memory.

The memory started when just before Leigh defeated Draco Malfoy and stole his wand from him. _It_ happened when Leigh Ron, and Hermione were trapped inside the Malfoy Manor dungeons. Things went from deep shit to absolute hell. It began when Hermione had been dragged out of the cell by Bellatrix Lestrange. Her and Ron were forced to watch as Hermione was subjected to the Cruciatus curse over and over again. They'd asked her questions of where her friends were. I almost wished that Hermione hadn't placed a disillusionment charm on us at the last minute when we were unexpectedly ambushed. It was smart of her to do so, as always, but seeing her being tortured was heart breaking, especially when there was nothing she could do about it. She would never be able to forget the look of absolute pain on Hermione's face when she begged for Bellatrix to stop, to kill her, anything to stop the pain.

Leigh tried to calm her breathing, not wanting to let tears run out of her eyes as she recalled the memory. In the end, she and Ron hadn't been able to do a thing because they were chained to the wall inside the cell as well as their wands being taken away by the lower ranking Death Eaters. As a result, they were forced to watch as Hermione's eyes dulled lifelessly.

**flashback**

Ron shouted, screaming as loud as he could manage. He struggled the best he could to get out of the chains binding him to the wall when he heard Hermione's cries of pain. There were wards around the cell, so he couldn't apparate out of the chains that dug into his wrists as he struggled out of them. That wasn't to say that Leigh hadn't tried to help either, but listening to Hermione's screams made her lose her head at the time. She wondered how much longer her best friend would be able to stand the curse that caused excruciating pain. After Hermione succumbed to the curse, Dobby came to the rescue and with his unusual elven magic, helped his Mistress Leigh Potter and her Weazy out of the manor.

Once they arrived at Bill and Fleur's house she turned to her only friend and was met with a wand pointed to her face. When Ron had been set free by Dobby he'd grabbed his wand just in time before they left the cell. Ron's hand trembled with anger as he tried to refrain from yelling the first spell that came to mind at his long time friend. Leigh knew that Ron had been in love with Hermione. She often saw them holding hands as they slept at Grimmauld Place and now that she was unable to be helped, she could see the sadness and regret in his eyes as he pointed his wand at his long-time friend. There was no fooling anyone. Leigh could read what he was thinking in his eyes as he looked at her. Ron hated her now. Within the hour, she'd lost her best friends. The only thing keeping Ron from cursing her with every spell he knew was that Hermione's death was still fresh in his mind. She backed away from Ron, trying to tell him that she understood. She would leave and never bother anyone again. It broke her heart to do it, but she apparated away from Ron. Since then she fulfilled the prophecy and stopped Voldemort on her own.

**End flashback**

Dumbledore frowned with worry as he saw his precious student's eyes turn red and her chest taking ragged breath's. "Leigh?' He asked, coaxing her to speak. She couldn't though. No matter how much time it takes, she will never be able to get over this. Every night she sleeps she can hear Hermione's screams and Ron's words of hatred even though he hadn't spoken to her that night, only turning his wand on her.

She gave him a bitter snort. "What do you think happened?"

"I could venture a guess, but I do not wish to overstep my boundaries in case I'm wrong," He admitted to her. His voice attempted to sooth her, but she didn't want to listen to his piteous tone.

"I don't want to talk about it. The only thing I'll say is that I'll never be seeing them again," She replied. Her voice struggled to remain steady when she talked, but somehow she managed, if not coming off a bit cold. Leigh took a deep breath as she tried to think of something else. She was once again successful in keeping in her sadness. She never liked crying in front of people during the few times she actually did. She sighed in relief when she thought of something else.

"Will Professor Snape get his own portrait in here?" she asked finally.

"He should. He was a headmaster of Hogwarts, after all. No matter how short a period it was," He replied.

"P-Professor, I don't think I can-" Leigh began but was interrupted by sharp tapping on the window. Dumbledore nodded for her to check it out and she sighed obediently doing as he asked. She strolled to the window, not really caring for what the owl was clutching between its talons, but once again she found myself being unable to say no to the great wizard.

She was glad she didn't.

Leigh opened the window and allowed the owl entrance. She took the scroll that was clutched by the owl and paid it when she saw that it was the Daily prophet. She opened the newspaper expecting to see an article giving a detailed description on how Voldemort was dead, and there was. There was also another article alongside the other one. In giant bold moving letters, there was the title:

**"LEIGH POTTER! FEARED TO BECOME THE NEXT DARK WITCH!" **

**By Rita Skeeter**

"WHAT!?" Leigh growled loudly.

**Standing on the scene of the final battle was a sight to see, but now that it's over, I question myself. How did 12 year-old Leigh Potter acquire the power to destroy this menacing evil? Could she have done the same thing as the former Dark Lord had? Just a moment ago, I received a quote from an anonymous student who greatly helped my idea unfold.**

**"How did Potter acquire this so called 'power'? One moment she's on the floor screaming to her mum to save her from The Dark Lord and the next, she's the hero. I don't believe for a second that Potter acquired these powers through natural causes or legal ones for that matter. How did she do this? I'll tell you. It's dark magic, that's how," said Anonymous Student**

**The nameless student continued to graciously give me more important information that you would find most interesting to read and look out for. she should have been in Slytherin her first year. She also has the ability to speak Parseltongue, the language of snakes...**

There was more to the article, but she couldn't stand to read anymore of the bullshit that was written out on the page. Leigh glared at the author's name. Great, it was written by her deceitful publicist. Everyone seemed to believe what she wrote. And for the last time, she was 17 years-old, NOT 12.

"Incendio," Leigh muttered softly to the newspaper.

Now, the statement she was going to say before the owl's interruption returned full force.

"Professor," she began calmly. "As I was saying, I can't stay here anymore. I have to-" The door slammed open "THERE SHE IS! GET HER BEFORE-!" She heard. Whipping around, Leigh saw a mass of witches and wizards standing at the doorway to the beautiful office. Dozen's of wands pointed at her. Just for the record, she took back everything remotely kind she ever said about them. Yeah right did they just want to relax from the stress of the reign of terror, now they believe that another is about to start.

"You don't actually believe this rubbish is true, do you?" she asked hurt by their words. She could not believe this was happening. After everything she sacrificed for these people because they couldn't do it themselves, and now they bloody well accuse her of potentially becoming the next Dark Lady.

"Well!? How did you get that power? Well?" Everyone began to ask me separately.

It was becoming hard to understand them. All the noise was turning into something similar to her nightmares. She heard a piercing noise enter her eardrums. She placed her hands over her ears, but couldn't get the sounds of Hermione's screams away from her. It seems that Leigh will be forever cursed with the memory even as her eyes were open. Her vision began to change from looking at the distrustful glares, to a glare of hatred that hurt her the most from Ron's blue eyes.

"Everyone get out! NOW! HOW COULD YOU FOOLS BELIEVE THIS GARBAGE! YOU ALL SAW THE SPELL SHE USED! IT WAS NOT DARK!" Leigh heard roared.

Leigh opened my eyes and realized that she was kneeling on the floor when she felt an arm urging her to stand up. She looked up and noticed a very stern- more like extremely pissed off look on Professor McGonnigal's face. She turned to the side and saw who was holding her up. It was Luna Lovegood. Leigh didn't think she ever seriously appreciated her before now. She saw the look in her eyes. No longer did they look like they were off in Never-Never Land, but instead they held anger and protectiveness. Leigh held onto Luna's arm.

Everyone was pushed out the door by a spell from Professor McGonnigal. Leigh leaned further into Luna when she began to pet her hair. She closed her eyes once again trying to keep her breathing under control. Leigh turned into Luna's hug and she continued to pet her hair, but she listened as Professor McGonnigal began to speak.

"So Miss Potter, what was it I heard about your desire to move away?"

"Don't think for a minute that you can get away from me Leigh. We're going with you." Luna said. "I do believe I might be possessed by a Wiggyshield. They are very protective of there friends and loved ones." She said in the dream-like voice she reserved for Leigh.

Leigh hid her face in Luna's neck grimacing as she tried her hardest to hold her tears back.

It's been three days since Leigh, Luna, and Professor Minerva McGonnigal arrived at Godric's Hollow, where Leigh Potter lived when she was a baby. Leigh was able to get to know her former home a little more then the first time she came here looking for horcruxes, but she knew that the trio could not stay there forever. Their presence in the house would rouse unwanted attention soon enough.

Each of the women in the house had an unusual power. Leigh was the Girl-Who-Lived and killer of Voldemort. McGonnigal had the power due to experience and she promised the younger ladies that she would help them as much as possible. The day before Leigh found out the youngest witch's special ability. Luna had the power of a seer.

**Flashback***

Leigh walked into the living room and she automatically spotted the longhaired blonde reading a book and facing away from her.

"Hello Leigh," Luna said not facing her.

"Hi," she replied. "Can I ask you something?"

"You would like to know how I know when you're there. Right?" Luna said turning to her friend.

"Yes, I have been curious about that far a while now," Leigh said curiously wondering how she knew.

Luna smiled sweetly. "You need only ask dear friend."

Leigh shifted a nervously on her heals. It felt good when she said that to her, but couldn't help feeling guilty for allowing Hermione to die and sorrow because of Ron's hatred for her. She wasn't sure she'd be able to let anyone but Luna in again. If she did, then it would definitely take time.

"Leigh, no matter what you may think of yourself, it is not your fault," Luna said frowning. "Please don't be sad. I hate seeing my friend so upset," She walked up to Leigh and gave her a hug, which was returned whole-heartedly.

"It's strange. I feel that even before we met that day in my fifth year and your fourth year, you seemed to know me so well. You've always known the right things to say and make me feel better when I have one of my nightmares. I never tell you about them," she finished.

_Boy you sure like to ramble_, Leigh thought towards herself.

"No you're not rambling. I love hearing you speak. The speakerwings invaded your voice box. I hear that is very good luck on the last Saturday of Christmas holidays." Luna leaned in and whispered, "And to answer your question, I'm a seer."

Leigh looked on worried. She wasn't like Professor Trelawney was she?

"No Leigh, she's known for prophecies that are few and far between. I can see into the future and catch small images based on choices people make, but it doesn't happen all the time."

Leigh sighed in relief. She hated prophecies anyway.

**End Flashback***

Leigh and Luna were sitting at the kitchen table finishing their dinner. They still needed to discuss where they were going to live. Minerva gave the decision to them, saying anywhere was fine with her. As a result, their living possibilities became the topic of discussion.

"Where do you want to live Leigh?" Luna asked.

"Um~ I'm not really sure, but I'd prefer somewhere far and not in this country," Leigh replied, refraining from sneering at the memory of the back stabbing bastards.

"I understand," Luna replied. Then she thought of something that would cheer her up. "Leigh, would you like to try something fun?"

Leigh gave an expression of interest. "Okay. What is it?"

Luna stood from her chair and gestured for Leigh to do the same. Luna whipped out her wand and Leigh stood behind her to watch. Luna wanted Leigh to trust her entirely, so did not mind her friend being behind her. Luna waved her wand and a live-sized blue hologram sphere appeared between them. Luna turned around and began to speak again.

"This can be our way to decide where in this world we're going to go. It is a game. You close your eyes, spin the sphere, and let your finger run across it until it stops. Where ever it lands is where we'll go. I hear muggles enjoy doing this when they can't decide on where to travel," Luna explained.

Leigh lifted an eyebrow. It did look tempting, she'll admit. Even more so because she'd never seen the Dursley's doing such things. It was unnecessary and the Dursley's demanded perfection.

"Um~ okay, so who's going to spin and touch the sphere?"

"I'll spin," Luna volunteered.

Leigh placed a finger on the globe and closed her eyes. She felt the globe spin fast, feeling the rough edges of the hard of land and damp places of where there should be water. When ten seconds passed, the sphere stopped and her finger landed so she opened her eyes and saw it landed on a small country.

"I guess were going to Japan," Leigh said smiling.

"Now it's time to see where in Japan," Luna said dreamily.

A life-size version of the country took over the rest of the globe, and cities and town names appeared. The sphere spun and stopped. Leigh opened her eyes again.

The door opened and in came Professor McGonnigal.

"Have you decided ladies?" She questioned.

"Yep," Luna answered. "We are going to…"

"Karakura, Japan," Leigh finished.

The younger witches laughed when they realized how they sounded like the Weasley twins.

"Very well then. Pack up. We leave tomorrow at noon," The elder witch replied.

On the way to their new home the trio formulated a back-story to tell others incase anyone asked. Minerva would be their grandmother since she was old enough to be. Leigh and Luna would be cousins because they looked too different to be sisters like they originally wanted. Minerva would be a retired teacher who is taking care of her granddaughters that lost their parents, and it was the truth. While it was clear that Leigh lost her parents to Voldemort, Luna lost her father against the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. Once they arrived to their new home Minerva placed a language spell on the three of them, so they would be able to speak and read the native language, as well as switch back to English whenever they desired.

The next morning Leigh was given a surprise attack from her grandmother. She had to go back to school. A MUGGLE high school. Luna on the other hand was almost bouncing off the walls with excitement. Leigh wouldn't have been surprised if her cousin had seen this coming, but to go to a normal muggle high school? How were they supposed to do this? Leigh voiced her concern.

"I haven't been to a normal school since I was ten. How am I supposed to learn what I missed throughout the years? Also, what about Luna? What did you do before going to Hogwarts?" She directed towards her cousin.

"Don't worry. Everything will be alright." Luna replied snickering. Hmm… The girl had a mischievous side…

"Leigh if you let me finish you would hear a solution to your problem," Minerva scolded lightly.

Leigh blushed. "Sorry… Min-Grandma."

Minerva held out two jellybeans. Leigh looked confused again and Luna sat back down to listen.

"These jellybeans will give you the knowledge you missed until the lessons you will have tomorrow. Later today you will be taking you exams at Karakura High to see which level you belong in. Luna, you will be a freshman. Leigh, you will be a junior, since you are a year older. Now, eat the candy and head straight back to bed for rest. The potion's effects inside the jellybean's rush of new knowledge will give you a headache if you don't lie down."

Luna scooped her jellybean and skipped to her room. Leigh took her jellybean too, then hesitantly turned around.

"What is it?" Minerva asked without having to look.

"Do we really have to-"

"I'll teach you to become an animagus." She replied instantly.

Leigh bit her lip, but gave into temptation to pout. Che, Hogwarts teachers sure liked to play hardball. She shrugged. Oh well, she was game.

"You've got yourself a deal!" Leigh ate her jellybean and ran up to her room.

***

"ICHIGO! ICHIGO! IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GET THE HELL UP! YOU'LL BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" Shouted the annoying voice of Kon. However, his attempts were futile due to the strong will of the substitute shinigami.

A strong will indeed, considering he grabbed Kon by the head while still sleeping and threw him out the window, which was conveniently open. Kon crashed undignified to the ground after a two-story fall, and he began shouting nonsense at Ichigo; something about cruelty to stuffed animals.

_Why that stupid, no good orange-haired idiot! Why did the beautiful onee-chan stick me with a block head like him? _Kon grumbled to himself.

"Aibou, you'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me," An albino taunted while smirking.

"Tsk," A voice of annoyance answered in return. "I could say the same to you."

"Ooh~ tough words to say considering I know everything about you."

Ichigo rolled his eyes as he listened to his inner hollow trash talk him to get him angry, so they could fight seriously. Yep, that's right. All this hostility because he still hasn't named the bastard. And now he had to face a constant battle for control when he slept or fought other hollows. However, irritating as it was to hear, his hollow look-alike was right. The hollow knew and learned everything he did and at the exact same time as he did, but the styles they used to fight with their power were completely different.

He preferred to fight on the intent to protect his friends while his hollow claimed it to be instinct. The reason being, when opponents find a power equal to theirs, they will want to do anything to overpower them and turn the enemy into the prey before they are. In other words, kill them to prove they are stronger.

Ichigo sighed and wiped sweat away from his face and grimaced when he felt the sting of a cut on his cheek. He was only glad it wouldn't show on his face in the conscious world or he'd have to deal with unnecessary worrying from Yuzu.

Ichigo's hollow shook his shoulder to adjust his muscles and snorted amusedly when he sensed Ichigo's father's reiatsu heading inside the room. The hollow flicked his hand to force Ichigo out of his sideways inner world to face his randomly attacking father. Once Ichigo was gone he narrowed his eyes with wonder.

_What was that power I sensed?_ The hollow thought once Ichigo returned to consciousness.

***

"ICHIIIIIGOOOO!"

Ichigo woke up as soon as he heard the first syllable of his name. Seeing as this happened every single day it was no surprise when he saw his father try to land a drop kick to his face. His father could be predictable at times so he easily dodged the foot that made its way to his face. Ichigo grabbed Isshin's foot and twisted it, forcing his father to land face down on his bed.

Ichigo held his father's face down and growled in frustration

"Ugh! Old man, you are so annoying doing this to me every morning or when I let my guard down even a little."

"Ichi-nii, just stop. You know he won't listen," Karin said irritated from the doorway. "Come down to the kitchen you two. Yuzu has breakfast ready."

Isshin's eyes glinted in freakish father determination. "Yuzu-chan, I'm coming my darling daughter!" He shouted racing out the door.

Ichigo groaned as he got off his bed and got ready for school. As he got ready something caught in the corner of his eye. He turned his head to get a better look and saw a dark-haired girl sleeping in her bed across from his own. Recently the house next to the clinic was for sale, but he guessed someone scooped it up. He shrugged indifferently before leaving his room. He trudged down the stairs and went to the kitchen to grab a piece of toast.

"Ichi-nii, is that all you're going to eat?" Yuzu asked concerned about her brother's health.

"Thanks Yuzu, but it's fine. I gotta go or I'll be late for school," He replied.


	2. New Neighbors

A/N: Hey guys editing still in commence. I hope you're enjoying the story. Chapter 3 and 4 will be put together.

"Speech,"

_"Thoughts"_

_"**Parseltongue****"**_

_***_

Chapter 2 Meeting an Orange-Haired Guy

**DREAM**

Leigh slithered down the narrow halls within the department of mysteries. She waited for the door to open before following the target inside. The room contained multiple rows of shelves with glowing white orbs sitting upon pedestals on the shelves. she spotted a small light appear on top of a wand after hearing words she didn't understand.

Leigh had a purpose for being there. It was to find the prophecy that her master wanted and return immediately. She was not to attempt to pick up the orb or else the department would be alerted of an intruder. The only people allowed to listen to the prophecy was her master, The Dark Lord Voldemort and the other speaker of snakes, the Potter girl whom contains master's mark of equality.

She silently followed the feet of the person in front of her. Master told her about the ones who opposed him. They were his enemies. Once she spotted the orb with her master's name on it she was allowed to attack the enemies. Leigh looked up when she noticed the light moving. Master told her to never let the enemy out of sight, so she would make sure to never allow that to happen. The light moved, shifting towards Leigh. Venom filled her mouth as she coiled her long body, preparing to strike.

The red-head backed up a little with his wand pointed towards the ground where the snake was, but Leigh didn't give him a chance to say the unknown words that made his magic come out of the wand. She hissed in warning, but he didn't back down.

_"Very well then, if that's how you want it,"_ Leigh hissed, but the human man didn't understand her.

A second later blood filled Leigh's mouth when she sprung forward and attached her fangs to the enemy's ankle. Leigh heard shouts of pain and the sound was exhilarating. She wanted to hear it again. Blood dripped down her jaws as she moved to the other leg, forcing the red-head to the ground. Next she went for the man's elbows, arms, and hands. she went for any vulnerable part she could find on them man...

Leigh looked around wildly, trying to find a way to get out of the chains to help Hermione. She used as much strength as she could, but without her wand there was nothing she could do while chained. Ear-piercing screeches and hysterical laughter made her freeze. Fear welled up in her chest and she felt tears appear in her eyes as she listened to Hermione's screams of pain. Leigh flinched when she heard Bellatrix's insane, yet gleeful laughter. Leigh continued her struggle as she thought about how good it would feel to see Bellatrix on the receiving end of the torture curse given by Leigh Potter herself.

"ICHIIIIIGOOOOOO!"

Leigh shifted her head to the side when she heard the unfamiliar name. Who was Ichigo? she didn't know anyone by that name. She couldn't worry about this Ichigo person, Hermione was in trouble. If she didn't escape from the chains soon, then her best friend would die. Suddenly, there was a sharp crack and it turned out to be Dobby. The short elf grabbed her wrist and apparated away, not listening to her when she pleaded for him to grab Hermione first. As she left, Leigh's heart cracked when she saw the accusing glare coming from Ron's eyes.

"N-No! WAIT! I have to save Hermione" Leigh pleaded to Dobby, but she didn't get an answer in return. Leigh looked around and saw a massive amount of white everywhere her eyes could see. Sand tickled her bare feet when the winds picked up, which was strange. She didn't see any trees. It area looked like desert to her, so she didn't see any trees to help make the wind. More sand tickled her feet. Leigh looked down, finding the ground interesting and noticed the surface of the pure white sand moving gently across the desert.

**END DREAM**

Leigh gasped for air when she felt a strange warmth bounce on her chest. She breathed deeply trying to contain her tears. In the dream she had been the one that attacked Author Weasley in the department of mysteries. It was just like that time in her fifth year when it actually happened, except this time it was only a nightmare, not a vision from Voldemort. She felt even worse when she dreamed about Hermione's torturous death and Ron's hate filled eyes. She didn't remember the rest of the dream, but when Dobby rescued her she remembered going somewhere completely unfamiliar to her. She'd never been to- wherever it was she went, but one thing was for sure, she has never seen sand so white.

She opened her eyes and looked down to see a worn out looking yellow and orange stuffed lion stuffed animal lying on her chest with it's head between her breasts. Leigh grabbed the stuffed toy's body and looked out her window, wondering where it came from. She heard two male voices arguing. She blinked startled when the elder of the two males tried to kick the younger orang-haired teen in the chest. She raised an amused and confused eyebrow when she saw them slap-fighting. A dark-haired girl (Karin) with an annoyed expression, broke up the fight. She saw the older man she greatly assumed was the father and she could swear his eyes drifted towards her in mild satisfaction before turning back to the others in the room. He then left the room in a dash.

Leigh stepped out onto her window balcony with the stuffed lion held against her chest.

***

Kurosaki Isshin snickered knowing the anger he was about to cause his son to have when he came in with the two gallon bucket of water he was going to pour all over his sleeping son. He silently opened the door that had the "keep out," sign attached to it. Of course he wasn't going to keep out. Who did his son think he was? Isshin was his father or old man, as Ichigo would call him. There was no way in hell that he would ever give into his son's demands. _Hehehe_... Isshin continued to snickered, until he heard a soft whimper close by. He knew it hadn't come from his son, seeing as how he was staring right at the sleeping boy. He noticed Ichigo's opened window and saw the house next to his clinic.

_"So she's one of the neighbors. I didn't get a chance to meet the young ladies when I went to greet the grandmother yesterday,"_ he thought to himself. The elderly lady had told him they were taking their tests to enter Karakura High. He frowned when he saw her shifting and tangling herself in her red blankets. It was obviously a nightmare because she was sweating and her bangs clung to her forehead. Her eyes were shifting beneath her eyelids. Her fists were clutching her blankets so heard that the looked like they were about to rip. Isshin shrugged in amusement. This would be a two-for-one deal. He could wake up his lazy slumbering son and stop the cute looking girl in the other house from continuing her nightmare.

"Here we go," He muttered in amusement.

"ICHIIIIGOOOOO!" Isshin shouted throwing the bucket of water onto his son.

Ichigo's reaction was classic as always. He screamed in shock, spluttering water out of his mouth. The water was freezing thanks to the ice cubes. He fell off the bed and saw his old man laughing his ass off, and here he looked like a drowned rat with orange hair. Ichigo grit his teeth and growled with annoyance. Another day with his oyaji annoying the hell out of him and springing surprise attacks. It would be a cold day in hell when he stopped waking him up like this.

"What's the big idea! Are you trying to get me sick?" Ichigo shouted.

He dodged a kick to his head and shifted on his hands to lift his body and aim a good kick to his father's head, not realizing that his hand had grabbed Kon and thrown him overboard out of his room once again.

***

_"Ichigo you bastard!"_ Kon thought, knowing not to say it out loud. However, his landing was surprisingly soft. A small hand grabbed his body and he was shifted to see the face of a very cute, but tired dark haired girl. "_She's not onee-san, but she'll due. Oh her her heavenly valley's feel so nice."_ Kon grinned mentally to himself like a cheshire cat. He wanted to nuzzle into the girl's heavenly valley's, but he had to remain still or else she would know his secret, so he merely allowed himself to be held against the girl.

***

Ichigo dodged a kicked aimed at his chest and caught Isshin's foot before throwing him onto the floor. He continued holding the older man's foot and twisting it, but not enough to break it. He jammed a foot to the man's chest. "Do you give up! HUH?" Ichigo asked smirking.

"Nope," Isshin replied smirking. He lifted his other foot and curled his leg around his son's neck, forcing them into an awkward position. He shifted his weight and sent his son to the ground. He chuckled when Ichigo grunted from the fall.

Karin's timing was always perfect when she entered Ichigo's room. "Ichi-nii, Oyaji, breakfast is ready. Enough of this stupidity. By the way," Her eyes shifted to to her brother's window. "You're only embarrassing yourselves. Did you realize you had an audience?" Karin left the room. She was hungry and she had to get ready for school. Geez... Why was her family so troublesome?

Ichigo noticed his father look to the side and something in his father's eyes changed. They looked akin to satisfaction or something, he guessed. For a few seconds he wondered why. The father and son untangled themselves and he sighed when his father dashed from his room... again. He never changed.

He looked to the side and noticed that the new girl was standing on her balcony. He gave a double shot when he noticed the lion she had clutched to her chest. It was lucky the girl didn't look down or she would have seen the satisfied smirk adorned on Kon's perverted face. "Ugh. Kon, you better not be thinking of causing trouble," He muttered walking to his opened window to get Kon back from the dark-haired girl.

As he walked to the window, he got a closer look at the new girl that lived next door. She was a head shorter than he was. The girl had shoulder length black hair with red streaks that reminded him of blood when he cut down hollows. Her hair was messy, but he figured it was because she'd just woken up. She had a slim body, with a flat stomach. It was obvious that she had slim muscle on her body. Black pajama pants hung low on her hips as he noticed them shift side to side when she walked towards him. She also had the greenest eyes he'd ever seen on anyone. Not only that, but he saw a look in her eyes that made him think that she seemed older than her appearance gave. They were a little dulled, but not completely. He gave a mental smirk as he imagined how she'd look with a genuine smile. Her facial features reminded him a little of Rukia, so maybe something like hers.

He shook his head.

"_Baka, the hell are you thinking? I'm not interested in that sort of thing_," He scolded himself. He heard his hollow snicker inside his head. "Oh? Is Aibou finally becoming a man? I have to agree."

Ichigo's face was set in his usual punk-like scowl as he stood in front of her.

"Hi," The girl said to Ichigo. "Is this yours?" She held out the infuriating lion.

"Gotta admit, she's a lil' cute, I suppose." Hollow Ichigo said to his Aibou. Ichigo was stunned stupid. This was so unusual of his hollow to be so... so human-like.

"Shut up! I can here everything your thinking. Now pay attention to the girl, or she'll think your weird. Not that I'd blame her. Your as nutty as they come," He cackled

_"And whose fault is that!"_ Ichigo mentally growled defensively. The hollow cracked up more as he heard his partner just admit he's crazy.

Ichigo focussed his attention back to his next door neighbor. "Unfortunately, there's no getting rid of him," He admitted taking the doll back. He could distinctly see a small shift in Kon's facial expression. It went from pleasure to disdain. Ichigo smirked and threw the doll nonchalantly at his door. Kon only wished that he could be back in his new onee-chan's arms. Somehow, Ichigo felt satisfaction when he took the doll out of the girl's hand and heard a loud thud and angry muttering come from the doll when he landed hard against the wall.

"So... What's your name?" He asked unexpectedly curious.

"Potter, Leigh," She answered back. Yep definitely foreign, but her accent was good, not that he actually cared, just an observation.

"Nice to meet you," He replied politely.

Leigh nodded. She was about to turn around and get ready for school, but she still didn't know the other guy's name.

"So, what's your name?" She asked him.

"Kurosaki, Ichigo," He responded. He held out his hand to her and she grasped it in her own. Her heart nearly skipped a beat. She fought down the blood that threatened to rush to the surface of her face. The palms of his hands were nicely calloused. His strong grip felt nice against her own.

"It's nice to meet you Kurosaki-san," She responded. Then she became a bit confused when he shook his head. "Don't say that. I'm not the type for formalities, so you don't have to. Just call me Ichigo." he said casually.

She gave a small smile. "Sure, then I insist that you call me Leigh."

Ichigo nodded. There was no doubt that he probably would have, but it was nice to hear... he guessed. He even called the sixth captain in Seireitei by his given name and called the Captain Commander old man. He only wished that his inner hollow would stop cracking up every time he spoke to the girl.

"Well, I suppose it's time to get ready for school," She said, turning around. "Isn't that right, Luna?" She smirked triumphantly that she'd caught her cousin eavesdropping on her in the act. She heard the window slam shut. She snickered again. Clearly, she hadn't been expecting Leigh to find out.

***

Leigh closed the window and covered it with curtains, so she could changed into her school uniform. She placed her second year pin on her collar flap and tied the red bow around her collar. Thankfully, her skirt was knee length, like the Hogwart's skirts were. The reason being, was that Luna had a evil streak occasionally, and it wouldn't surprise her if she decided to hem her skirt a few inches one of these days.

_"He sure did have nice muscles,"_ She thought absent minded. She shook her head. What the hell? No way. She did not just think that. She gave herself a mental slap and finished getting ready. Nope... no way she thought that, no way. "Besides, I don't even know the guy."

***

Luna chuckled. "Thanks for the idea Leigh. I just may do that one of these days. I'll bet your future boyfriend would love to see you in a mini-skirt. He he he," She thought chuckling to herself.

***

Leigh and Luna locked the door behind them after saying goodbye to their grandmother. Leigh quickly put on her left silver fingerless glove to cover the words carved into her hand. She subconsciously brushed her bangs over her forehead to make sure her scar wasn't showing. She didn't want to explain why she got it in the first place, or try to come up with a plausible lie that would explain the scar's unusual shape if anyone did see it.

"Yo," They turned around when they heard the familiar voice behind her. Ichigo came walking behind them in his uniform and book bag.

"Hey, Ichigo. Oh um, this is my cousin Luna," She introduced. Ichigo gave a short nod and Luna returned with the same. Her hair turned around and he was greeted with the sight of radishes in Luna's ears. He gave a silent snort. Never seen a girl do that before, especially Inoue, who had an odd taste particularly in the food department.

Ichigo walked the halls to his home room. He was lost in thought about the new girls he walked to school with. The long-haired blonde one, Luna seemed a bit odd, but nice. He caught her seemingly drifting off into space with her eyes glazed over. What his mind was focussed on more was the other girl, Leigh. When he saw them two exit their house, he was oddly pleased that she wore the girl's version of the uniform of the school he went to.

Since the three went to the same school now, they didn't really find it necessary to separate, so he walked them to school- for protection that is. He did have a tendency of running into a lot of punks on the way to school. When they arrived Leigh and Luna had to separate to the office in order to get their class schedules.

"Can you spell denial Aibou?" The hollow inside him asked. "You like her, don't you. And I am not talking about the way you like the Kuchiki girl or giant chested girl as a friend."

_"Can you be anymore vulgar?"_ Ichigo replied annoyed.

"Why yes. Yes I can," The other replied seriously.

Ichigo groaned, rolling his eyes. Ichigo grimaced when he heard the annoyingly loud sound of his friend Asano Keigo. Would he ever learn?

"ICHIGO, ICHIGO, ICHIGO, IIIIICHIIIIIGO-AGH!" Keigo's head was bashed into the ground by Mizuiro's foot. "Hello Ichigo." Mizuiro said

"Yo." He replied cooly.

"You should really stop doing that or you'll lose what little brain cells are still in your head," Mizuiro said amused.

"Geez... every single time," Ichigo muttered to himself.

"Did you hear the news? There's a new student! How often does that happen here? Not only that, but there's three of them!" Keigo yelled excitedly. His head was suddenly okay.

Ichigo nodded yes, but he hadn't known about there being a third student. If he dared say he lived right next door to the new girls his friends would have a field day, even the ever calm and peaceful Mizuiro, who had a tendency to be a skirt chaser. If only Chad was here right now. Sometimes his silence was golden.

"A nod? Is that all you're going to give me?" Keigo whined. Mizuiro rolled his eyes and flipped his cell phone open. "Have you seen them? Are they cute? Come on, don't leave me hangin'," Keigo pushed on.

"One's a freshmen and the cousin is in our year," Ichigo replied without thinking.

"WHAT!?" Keigo screamed in Ichigo's ear. He only had himself to blame for answering Keigo's question. "You've spoken to them. WELL!? Answer me. Are they cute?"

Ichigo smirked to himself. Perfect, another chance to tease Keigo. "Yes, you and the GUYS should get along just great," He said casually.

Keigo's mouth dropped and sweat dripped down his face. "G-Guys... that's cool. Can't wait to meet them," He said backing away slowly. "What about the other one?" He asked watching his words.

Mizuiro snickered, "No idea, but Asano-san, once again you fail to notice that Ichigo is teasing you," He said walking into the classroom. "Stop being so formal," Keigo whined.

Ichigo smirked as he walked inside the classroom and noticed Inoue and Chad, standing next to a sitting Ishida Uryu.

"Good morning Kurosaki-kun," She said smiling and waving. Chad grunted his greeting, and as usual Ishida insulted him. "Your wild hairstyle is as refreshing as ever,"

"Ah shut it," Ichigo retorted sitting down in a desk.

A red headed girl with and red-rimmed glasses came sneaking into the room. She peaked left and right to make sure there was no karate chopping girl named Tatsuki nearby. While one would call her actions skulking around she called them admiring a lovely chest that was attached by a cute personality and the lovely girl she was thinking about was named Inoue Orihime.

The coast was clear, so she decided that now was the time to pounce. Chizuru glomped Orihime from behind with her arms aimed right under her chest, making her breasts bulge. "Good morning Hime!" Chizuru squealed.

Pain came to her head as she was sharply pushed to the side and slammed into the wall. "Tatsuki! Darn her interference," She muttered to herself, but she was easily heard by the instigator of the kick.

"Stop doing that you pervert! Geez, it's not spring and yet your in full bloom all year," Tatsuki said in disgust.

"Yo. Tatsuki," Ichigo greeted his friend.

"Hey Ichigo. Did you hear about the new students? I saw one of them headed over here with the teacher." Tatsuki said.

Ichigo perked up at this statement. It wasn't too noticeable to the untrained eye, but those who were Ichigo's friends for years noticed the change in his demeanor. No one commented though. He was the type who only spoke when they wanted to. That, and he was hard to pry information out of.

"By the way, I wanted to ask. Where did you get that skull on hanging out of your pocket?" Tatsuki asked curious.

"Oh this?" Ichigo padded the skull he got from Ukitake in Seireitei. "Well, it's um... Shiniga... uh." Ishida's glasses flashed warningly. Crap, he couldn't tell her about what really happened on summer vacation, especially about the parts where he was nearly killed several times. "Oh, well, I bought it at a sto- wait you can see this Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki's eyes widened confused. "Uh, of course. Why not?"

Ichigo remembered the exact words Ukitake said to him as he gave him his shinigami substitute pass. _"It may not look like much, but this tool is actually quite powerful. It would be dangerous should anyone who's not a shinigami try to use this, so it's protected by a natural field. That way normal humans won't be able to see it."_

"Good morning students. Please take your seats. While I introduce two new students to you," Sensei said smiling. "But first I'll take roll. Hmm. I see everyone's here. Oh wait Ooshima and Sorimachi are absent today. Oh well, that's okay. There just punks anyway. I'm sure there not even sick. Just stupid punks ditching school."

The students sweat dropped.

"Okay, as I was saying we have new students," She said pleasantly. "You can come in now,"

The door opened, but only one student came inside.

Chizuru's glasses flashed. She smirked triumphantly. Fresh meat.

"Only one? Where did the other one go?" The teacher asked.

*** Outside.

Leigh leaned against the wall as she waited for the teacher to call her inside. Apparently today was the day for new transfer students because standing across from her was a taller guy with a blonde-haired bob. When she saw inside the window of her homeroom she immediately saw who was inside. The orange-haired teen who lived right next to her. She held her nose in annoyance. What was wrong with her? She just met the guy. Why was she reacting this way every time she saw Kurosaki Ichigo.

_"There is something about him, I'll admit. I've just never been attracted to a guy before,"_ She thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted when the blonde guy began talking to her.

"Why hello there. Are you new too?" The guy asked. She raised a mental eyebrow. That tone was too sweet to be real. Either he was a playboy, or he had a hidden agenda. She gave herself a mental slap. Of course he didn't. Maybe he was just genuinely nice. It was all Voldemort and Moody's fault for making her so paranoid. She once again, had to comment on her surprise that she was so calm and trusting around Ichigo this morning.

"My name's Shinji Hirako," He said giving her a big grin while holding out a hand.

"Potter, Leigh. It's nice to meet you, and yes, I'm new here," Leigh replied shaking his hand. Her eyes shifted away nervously. She let go of Shinji's hand with a frown. For some reason he kind of felt the same as Ichigo, but also different.

Leigh didn't see the smirk that appeared on Shinji's face. He turned away from Leigh and walked away. He'd introduce himself in a few days. For now, he'd seen the boy he was supposed to recruit, and found another interesting person.

***

"You can come in now," Leigh heard the teacher say. She looked around and saw that she was suddenly by herself. She sighed in annoyance and let the strange feeling she was having slip away, for now. As she walked inside she mentally went over the greeting she was going to say. Didn't teachers normally want a student to say something about themselves? Well, if that were true, she couldn't very well say anything about her past, so she came up with a few other things, which was the truth, just not the complete truth.

She walked inside with a fake smile that didn't reach her eyes and gave a small bow to everyone in greeting. She mentally lurched back when she saw a few odd glances cross her path. A girl with red hair and glasses looked like she wanted to eat her (Chizuru) and another boy with messy brown hair looked like he had hearts coming out of his eyes (Keigo). Somehow, she was horribly reminded of the vivacious Creevy brothers. She shuddered mentally at the thought of their badgering for her autograph.

"Everyone this is Potter, Leigh. Welcome her kindly," She got a few hellos and others gave her small waves. At the corner of her eyes she saw Ichigo looking at her through his messy bangs. She looked away, hoping her face wasn't turning red and patted down her bangs out of habit.

"Would you like to say a few words about yourself?" The teacher asked her cruelly. Leigh mentally groaned. As she expected she had to say something about herself. She'd prefer to say no, but she didn't want to come off as a bitch or give the teacher some reason to hate her. One Snape was bad enough.

"Sure I guess I can." Most students leaned in curiously. She took another glance at Ichigo while she spoke. "I moved here from England with my cousin and grandmother. I came here to finish my education and my hobbies are uh... drawing and karate," she recited. Yep short, and not juicy enough to want to know more.

Or so she thought until she saw hands raise. On second thought, she might as well have just let Hagrid introduce her to the class. As much as she loved the big guy, he certainly had a habit of spilling the beans about information that was meant to be classified. She side-glanced at the teacher, mentally sending her pleads to let her sit down. She didn't want to talk anymore. She was only thankful that Ichigo wasn't one of the nosy people raising their arms. The teacher gave a weird smile and she could almost see her shaking her head no.

Leigh gave a sigh and allowed someone to ask their question.

"How come you live with your grandmother? Why don't you live with your parents?" A student asked.

Typical nosy brat, but she supposed the question was harmless enough. She was used to people's pity anyway when she spoke about her dead parents. However, that didn't mean she was obligated to tell anyone what really happened.

"My parents are dead. They were killed when I was a year old," Leigh said. Her fake smile disappeared and was replaced with nothing. The teacher finally allowed her to take her seat. Thankful that she didn't let anything slip about the Dursley's, she took her seat. She was relieved to be sitting in front of Ichigo's desk.


	3. Tension

Leigh sat on the roof top during lunch hour. She sighed with her face buried in a hand. Great, that was some introduction she had this morning. Afterwards she received many piteous looks from several unknown girls and boys. She sighed again, pity was not what she wanted from others, but she seemed to entice the feeling from others unintentionally. She wished it would stop. All she wanted was to stop thinking about death, but it wouldn't leave her mind. Every night her nightmares ended the same, seeing someone that she loved die or seriously hurt. Although, her most recent one confused her a bit. In her dream Dobby took her somewhere very unfamiliar. She vaguely remembered a desert that was pure white and a sky that was darker than the sky she saw when the sun went down.

"Yep, I guess the Daily Prophet was right, I'm officially a nut," She commented grimly rolling her eyes.

"I don't think that's true," Luna said walking up to her cousin. She carried two boxed lunches she carried in her pouch that had an unlimited space to carry anything they wanted. She sat next to Leigh.

"Heh, out of the two of us, I think you are the only one that believes that," Leigh said smirking.

"I could say the same to you," Luna replied smiling. Leigh sighed and held out her hand for Luna to hand her the lunch she'd made before coming to school.

"Well, how have your classes been going so far?" Leigh asked.

"The work is unexpectedly easy," Luna replied with a whispery voice. Realization dawned on Leigh. "Are you using your little ability Luna? Hm?" Leigh snickered. "You little cheater," Leigh said amused.

"Well, it never hurts to keep practicing," Luna said, intelligently not letting her know that she was also checking out Leigh's future whenever she could. What could she say? Her cousin fascinated her to no end. "Well, the kids are nice. Some boys stared at me, and some other's are curious about you since they heard you were a girl." Leigh sighed. Great more attention, just what she needed even though it wasn't the type she was used to. "When is grandma going to start teaching you animagi. I heard that's very difficult. I wonder what you'll turn into."

"She said we would be starting tonight. She just had to finish the potion that would show me what animal my personality represented the best. No idea, I bet you already know and you're just pretending not to. Eh, whatever. I wonder what animal is living inside my soul. Whatever it is that'll be the animal I turn into," Leigh said.

Luna giggled. "Hmm. I suppose you're right, but I think you're going to like what animal you are," She commented breathily.

Leigh nodded absentmindedly. She was very excited to become an animagus like her dad and godfather were. It had given them more opportunities to plan their pranks, even when Remus was in his wolf phase of the month. Luna hummed in delight when she took a bight of her cousin's wonderful cooking she'd made for their lunch the night before. Admittedly Leigh could have allowed Dobby and Kreacher handle the cooking, but it was a personal pleasure for her when she wasn't drawing or trying absolutely hard not to think about Ron and Hermione.

Leigh eyes suddenly widened and she let out a strangled moaned when she felt a serge of energy rush through her arms. Luna stood up in shock. She didn't see this coming.

"Leigh what's wrong?" Luna asked containing her panicked voice.

Leigh nearly lost her footing when she looked at the sky. She pointed to the sky. It was ripping apart? Her breathing hitched when she noticed a creature enter from the strange hole.

"Luna? What in the world is that?" Leigh's struggled to say. She held her forehead when she felt the pain of sharp needles enter her, but she let go confused. As soon as the sharp pain entered her mind, it vanished without a trace. She leaned over the side of the building to catch her breath.

"Come on. We should go home and talk to grandma," Luna said feeling worried.

Leigh straightened from her position over the edge of the roof and looked towards her cousin. She nodded in understanding. This place was definitely not as muggle as they thought.

***

Minerva closed her eyes thoughtfully as she was told about the painful feeling Leigh experienced during school.

"Can you describe the creature to me? Maybe I can identify what it is." She said. She was worried by the expression Leigh had on her face as she saw Luna escorting her through the door.

"I'm not sure, I'll try," Leigh said trying to remember. "It didn't look like it came from this world."

"What do you mean by that? How can that be?" Minerva asked frowning.

"She saw the sky rip apart and the creature came through," Luna answered for her. "I was able to see it too, but I don't know what it is. Dad and I have never searched for a creature like that before."

"As far as the looks go, I barely saw what it looked like before it's presence completely disappeared. It's most distinctive feature I could see, was a mask that looked like a skull. Actually it made the death eater's masks look like children's masks, if you can believe that." Leigh half joked. Her face became serious again. "But other than that I didn't see anything else other than the fact that it's body was enormous. If I compared it to something, I think Hagrid's brother was actually shorter than it."

Minerva covered her mouth thoughtfully. It didn't sound familiar, but maybe she could ask someone who may know more about this. Perhaps Hagrid knew, he was rather enthusiastic about these types of creatures. She gave a small sigh. Could they stay here now that she knew this place wasn't what they thought?

"Whether we find out what this creature is or not, the question remains. I'm asking you Leigh, because it wouldn't bother us if we stay or go, so what do you want to do now that you've experienced this?" Minerva asked. Luna nodded in agreement with the elder ladies statement, however she had a feeling what her cousin's answer may be.

Leigh lowered her eyes. Her mind was worried, but she knew in her heart that her decision was already made. "I want to say that we should leave and not get involved with whatever that creature is, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious."

"Very well then. Go and write Hagrid a letter," Minerva instructed. "As soon as you're done, we'll start on your animagus training."

Leigh's eyes lit up happily because she was going to have one more opportunity be like her parents and their friends. Leigh left the room to write a letter to Hagrid, not seeing Luna's eyes glaze over.

"Luna what did you see?" Minerva asked.

"Leigh's future has always been the most confusing to me. Every time I saw her in danger she always changed it when Voldemort was still alive. What I saw just now was Leigh's future becoming brighter. It's been that way since she said hello to our neighbor Kurosaki Ichigo."

"But?" Minerva said knowingly.

"But, as long as she contains her tears of sadness over the loss of her friends, there will always be a shadow of doubt to cloud her judgement. However, it's not like we can force her to let her feelings out. She has to let the walls break by herself," Luna replied sadly.

***

When Leigh was finished scribing a letter to her favorite half-giant she sent it off with Professor McGonnigal's owl as instructed. She went back down stares and noticed that Luna must have retreated to her room to work on her homework. She had some too, but she'd do it when she was finished with animagus training.

Two minutes later, Leigh was back in her room with a sigh of annoyance. Well, the training wasn't as long as she expected it to be. According to grandma the first step to becoming an animagus was to consume a potion that would control her dreams and guide her into her core to see what animal she was meant to become. She had immediately swallowed the potion, but it would only work when she went to bed, so she grudgingly started on her school work. Clearly there was no slack for new students as she stared at the thirteen inch stack of papers.

Leigh snickered in amusement. Okay, so maybe the amount was slightly exaggerated, but she guessed that no matter what school she went to, muggle or magic, the result of a class lesson would always end in a homework assignment. It took her an hour to finish her English and history, while a little longer to comprehend the math assignment. She'd only had three classes today after homeroom was over. Well, at least it was familiar to Hogwarts in some respects. They had different classes on different days and they were all three hours long. Sometimes boring to cause major exhaustion and sometimes not.

Leigh took out a sheet of sketch paper to draw the creature she saw at school earlier that day and walked onto her balcony for fresh air. With prestige skill she was able to draw out a mini version of the creature she'd seen earlier. She looked down at the very detailed drawing with narrowed eyes. When she saw the real thing, it gave her an irritated feeling in her head and it was the same she felt whenever she was around Voldemort, just not as intense.

Suddenly a pleasant feeling swept over her when she heard the sound of a window sliding open. _He_ was back home. Her face gave off a small smile as she continued working on her drawing, but she had a feeling Ichigo knew that she knew he was there. She looked down at her paper again and frowned.

"Hmm. Now that I think about it, it looks kinda like a pig," She commented out loud.

"What looks like a pig?" Ichigo asked her, leaning over the railing on his side of the balcony.

"My drawing. I saw something that looked like this. You probably won't believe me but..." She said holding up her picture.

Ichigo took the paper from her and looked down at the picture she drew. His eyes widened when he saw it. It was the exact replica of a hollow he destroyed a few hours ago.

"You... You said that you saw this?" He asked her with shocked eyes. Right in front of his eyes was the beef/pork hollow that he dispatched during school.

She nodded. "Yeah. Why, do you know what it is? I'm not sure. My cousin and grandma don't seem to know either."

Ichigo didn't think he could be anymore shocked. A girl and her family that he'd barely known for a day could see hollows. Damn right, he knew what it was.

_"Aibou, there's something you need to know, and for once in your life listen to me, alright? That girl is no ordinary person. She's not like you or your friends. I probably shoulda told ya this sooner, but she's got somthin' different. I'm not sure how, but I sense something coming from her being and I've gotta say, it smells really good."_

He saw Leigh yawn. "I'm kind of tired. Good night Ichigo."

"Good night," He replied automatically.

"Great, so the girl I'm attracted to can see hollows. So, then if she can see hollows, she'll be able to see me when I'm fighting them. This is not good, she'll only be in danger if she gets too curious," He thought forgetting about his own hollow.

"_HAH! I knew it, you do like her."_ Ichigo's inner hollow cackled.

Leigh turned one last time. "Oh, yeah. That's a cool skull on your hip." She pointed out to the badge. She turned away and went to bed to see her animagus form.

Ichigo glared down at his substitute shinigami badge. Was this thing defective or something? But putting that aside, he sure did like the way Leigh walked. Ichigo groaned again when he heard more cackling from the bothersome hollow.

***

Leigh crawled into bed after brushing her teeth and pulling her pajamas on. She wondered what would happen in her dream. What would she see? Would the potion even work? She scoffed to herself. The potion should work, but sometimes teachers could make mistakes. She guessed she was just worried about having another nightmare if the potion turns out to be a dud. Well, there's always one way to find out.

**Dream**

Leigh rolled in her sleep when she felt something cold touch her cheek. It touched her again, and a third time. Was Luna trying to one up me in a prank war? or something? Well, just because she could see the future, and had a habit of searching for her cousin's presence in it, doesn't mean that she's the daughter, god-daughter, and favorite niece of three great and talented pranksters like the Marauders. She could even include a friend of pranksters seeing that Fred and George Weasley had idolized the Marauders when they were in school. Even beyond going as far as to open their own joke shop and be able to compete with Zonko's Joke Shop.

The cold touch was back again. She sighed in annoyance wishing the darn thing would leave her alone to sleep. She opened her eyes to see what was touching her. She soon discovered that it wasn't Luna, hell, it wasn't even human. It was majestic looking, yet feminine. It was a fox... with nine tails. Compared to a normal fox size, this one was six times bigger. Its fur was pure darkness with red on the tips of each tail. Emerald eyes stared down into her own. Leigh studied the fox some more. There was also a thin jagged patch of fur above the right eye. Another peculiar aspect of the fox was the patch on its left paw. She looked down at her own left hand and noticed her glove was gone. She could see the scar on her hand and couldn't help but compare them.

"That looks like my curse scar," Leigh whispered.

The fox jumped on its legs and twirled around playfully. Leigh got a closer look at the fur. It looked like her own hair as well. She gasped at the sight. She was finally connecting the puzzle pieces together. That fox was her animagus form. She nearly blushed when she saw how beautiful and feminine the fox was. The fur looked perfectly sleek and soft to the touch.

The fox crouched on her legs to give her a playful bow. Leigh smiled as she walked up to the fox. she pat the animal spirit, and was given a surprise when the fox took her pajama shirt between her jaws and placed Leigh on her back. The nine-tailed fox yipped and took a graceful leap into the air with Leigh holding tightly to the fur. She giggled as the fox took giant leaps into the air.

**End Dream**

Leigh woke with a start. A smile appeared on her face as she remembered the dream. She finally had a night of peace and she got to see what form of animal she would turn into. She looked at her clock and noticed the time of six-thirty in the morning. Minerva should be up, so Leigh dashed from her bed so she could get an early start on her animagus training.

Minerva smiled at the unexpected exuberance she saw coming from Leigh when she described what her fox looked like.

"Very well. Will start with one body part at a time so you can get used to the changes. Now give me your hand," She instructed.

Leigh held out her left hand and Minerva tapped it with her wand. She said the spell out loud so that Leigh could hear it and practice by herself occasionally.

Leigh gasped at the feeling. Feeling the change in her bones didn't hurt quite as much as a polyjuice potion would have, but it was still irritating. She looked down at her hand when the change was finished. Instead of a hand, it was a fox paw. As she remembered in the dream, she had black fur and her nails grew sharp. There was also a small patch of white from her scar inflicted by those cursed pens she was forced to write with in fifth year.

All in all, she was going to love this.

A tap sounded at the window. Minerva helped return her hand to normal so she may get the letter she was expecting from Hagrid.

**Dear Leigh,**

**'Bout time I heard from ya! I was beginnin' to miss ya. Fang sends his love. Leigh saw a black paw print on the parchment as proof. Now, 'bout this creature ya saw. By yer discription, I'm 'fraid I can't say that I know. I've never seen one here before see? I'd try askin' Professor Dumbledore. I here ya like to draw. Make a landscape, and if ya spell it right, then Dumbledore should be able to travel to yer painting.**

**Hagrid.**

Leigh placed the letter on the table in the kitchen with slight disappointment, but she was still pleased to hear from Hagrid. She glanced down at her Monster Book of Monsters, Hagrid assigned third year. Even though Hagrid most likely looked through the book too, she figured that it didn't hurt to look for herself in case Hagrid overlooked something. She looked page after page for the description of the skull-masked creature, she saw nothing that fit.

"Any luck?" Minerva asked leaning over her shoulder.

"No. I can't find anything." Leigh responded checking the clock.

It was time for school. "Luna, are you ready?" She shouted from her seat.

Minerva rolled her eyes to the heavens. "There is no need to yell."

Leigh smiled sheepishly.

In homeroom Leigh sat in her same seat in front of Ichigo, while lightly chatting about recipes with Orihime.

"Have you ever tried pickles dipped in chocolate frosting?" Orihime asked smiling brightly.

Leigh noticed the sickly green color that appeared on the people who sat near them. She rose a curious eyebrow and shook her head. "No I can't say that I have. Are they any good?" She asked.

"Oh yes. They're the best. Right next to strawberry cake with avocado icing," She replied.

Leigh smiled in reply trying to hold her stomach from churning negatively. "Hm... Maybe I'll ask grandma if you can try some pumpkin juice or butterbeer."

Orihime placed an index finger to her chin thoughtfully. She imagined pumkin flavored juice for the first drink, and butter mixed with beer for the second. "That sounds interesting."

Leigh smiled as she turned to her sketch book. She thought Orihime was odd, but sweet. in a way she kind of reminded her of Luna, although a little more in tune with reality. While Luna often had a dreamy look in her eyes due to her visions, Orihime had odd taste buds.

She focused on the drawing meant for Albus Dumbledore. She had a few ideas. Her first was the interior of a candy shop filled with varieties of wizard and muggle candy. Albus would have a field day in the painting if that's what she chose. She wondered if a painting of Dumbledore could actually eat a painting of candy. The second option was a mall full of socks. She remembered first year how he'd always wanted socks, because every always assumed he'd want a book every Christmas. She was amused by the thought, but froze when she saw a red-headed girl with glasses in her face.

"Hi!" Chizuru all but shouted in her face. Leigh leaned back from the close proximity.

"Hi, Leigh replied breathlessly. "You are Chizuru, I believe?" She received a crazed smile in return and tried to lean further back in her chair if it were possible to avoid the hug. Not only that if she leaned even further, she'd all but be in Ichigo's lap. Unfortunately she was too slow to dodge her.

Chizuru squealed in delight. "Yay, Leigh-chan knows who I am!"

_"How can I not? You are the one who taped red hearts all over my locker."_ Leigh thought annoyed. "I believe I saw your picture, name, and phone number on a few of the hearts from earlier," She said shakily trying desperately to free herself from the girl's iron grip on her. _"This girl __could definitely be a full body locker spell if it were to be personified."_ She thought.

Leigh managed to untangle an arm from the persistent girl. She yelped when she felt a pulling sensation on her arm as she was about to be dragged to the other girl's desk, but when Chizuru's Orihime radar went off, Leigh was immediately forgotten and shoved to the side into someone. She sighed in relief at being let go. She could have used her skills with judo, but she liked to keep it for the death eaters.

"Orihime's here!" Chizuru screamed exuberantly. She grunted in pain as she was expectantly kicked aside by Tatsuki, who arrived just in time.

"Oi Ichigo, Since when were you and Leigh together?" Tatsuki asked wide-eyed.

"Don't tell me..." Leigh thought dreadfully. She turned around to face the person whose lap she was settled on. Leigh scrambled off Ichigo's lap, apologizing profusely. She turned around to hide her heated face hoping no one saw her expression. Ichigo had been in the same predicament when he was reading from his text book and suddenly he found himself with a lap full of Leigh. He stiffened too nervous to move or say anything. His inner hollow snickered when she hadn't moved from his lap until Tatsuki made her curious question.

"Aw, did you enjoy that aibou?" Hollow snickered. "Shut up!" Ichigo snarled with a red face.

Leigh immediately forgot about her embarrassment when thoughts of Hermione and Ron appeared in her head. How could she be happy when her friends weren't? Well, at least Ron wasn't. She could only hope that Hermione was doing well where ever her dead spirit was. The point was, they weren't with her enjoying the happiness with, dare she say it, new friends. Although the past couple of days she spent her limited time with them, they were great. She lowered her eyes, losing the teachers attention as her thoughts became even darker when she began thinking about the final task in third year. That being the first time she ever saw someone killed in front of her eyes, not including her parents, but she didn't remember their deaths very well.

Ichigo looked up when he felt the air shift in front of him. It turned from sadness to anger within seconds of each other and they didn't seem to be subsiding anytime soon. Uryu, good at sensing reiatsu, also felt the shift. The thing was, it was different then regular reiatsu. It felt like there was an extra ingredient added or missing, they didn't know. He side-glanced at Kurosaki and nodded. They should talk to Urahara about this. Perhaps he would know something. There was also no doubt in their minds that Orihime and Chad noticed the change as well.

_"Who are you! What do you want!... Kill the spare... Avada Kadavra,"_She couldn't get those cold words out of her mind. She would never be able to forget about Voldemort's order to kill Cedric Diggory as though he were just some insignificant object. She tensed as she lost herself in the memory, holding her hair that covered her curse scar, teeth gritting unseen behind the arm in front of her face, not aware that her breathing wasn't coming out in the steady pace it should be.

***

Luna opened her eyes with a gasp as she stood up from her desk when she should have been taking her notes. She'd just seen a vision of Leigh blowing out the classroom's windows, so she had to get their before Leigh lost control. She ran out the door barely hearing her teacher's angered voice.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh... bathroom. Can't hold it anymore," Luna mumbled knowing the teacher heard.

She ran as fast as she could to the junior corridor of the school. She found her cousin's room and breathed in relief as she was just in time, before the windows began cracking.

Luna grabbed her cousin's arm and dragged her outside the room, before pulling her into her arms. She patted Leigh's back sharply trying to get her attention, but it wasn't working, so she pulled her back so Leigh's face wasn't in her shoulder anymore. Luna raised her hand and slapped her cousin across the face.

Leigh woke from her memory when she felt a sharp pain across her face. She looked up confused and saw Luna standing in front of her worried. Leigh pressed a hand to her check, where she knew a red mark was and calmed down again.

"Are you all right now?" Luna asked

"I'm sorry Luna. T-Thanks for waking me up. Did I ruin anything this time?" Leigh asked looking around at the objects, ignoring the curious stares that came through the windows.

"Not this time. I made it to you in time. I'll probably be in detention today. I'm not sure the teacher believed my quick excuse as I rushed away to you," She said smirking.

"Ha, ha, so you're the first one of us to get a detention, maybe. Always thought it would be me," Leigh replied smiling.

"Well, it's to be expected. You're slacking in your prank planning."

"Hey, your right, but if it makes you feel any better you must have seen what happened _earlier_ before my self-induced misery happened."

Luna smiled her dreamy smile. "It was very sweet. I wish I could have been the one that did that to you." Leigh's face flushed. "I'll see you later cousin." Luna said skipping away.

Leigh sighed. Great, she'd just made a spectacle of herself in the room. Well, at least she hadn't destroyed anything, but now she would have to deal with the curious stares and questions. What was she going to say to this. She didn't tell anyone that she'd recently been through a war, and may have flashbacks once in a while.

Leigh walked inside the room with a fake smile as always.

"May I ask what that was all about?" The teacher, Haruno-sensei asked.

"Oh, I'm very sorry for disturbing the class. My cousin needed to speak to me about something important. It was a family matter," Leigh explained.

"Is everything all right?" Haruno-sensei asked frowning.

"Of course, everything's okay. Nothing that couldn't be taken care of," Leigh said evasively. _"With a slap or two,"_ She added to herself.

"Very well then. Take your seat," She said unconvinced.

When Leigh sat down she found a note on her desktop. She discovered to be from Ichigo. **"What was that all about?"** is what it said. Leigh chewed her lip nervously before scribbling her answer.

**"Later," **Leigh replied.


	4. Bellatrix

Disclaimer: I still don't own this, but here's the disclaimer... 8)

Chapter 4, formerly chapters 7 and 8... Enjoy.

"Speech"

_"Thoughts/Ichigo's hollow"_

**Letters/Newspapers**

**_"Parceltongue"_**

***

Leigh bit her lip anxiously. What was she thinking agreeing to talk to Ichigo about her past. It's like the guy knew there was something wrong with her. _"My mind must be floating into space at the most inconvenient times. I can't tell him that I was having a flashback about Voldemort, but I don't think I can tell him the truth either. I'll have to tell him a clever alternative version of what really happened," _She thought nervously. She didn't want to talk about her past, but somehow it felt wrong at the idea of coming up with a lie. "What is that boy doing to me?"

As she was in her own little world, she didn't realize the dirty looks she received when she startled a couple of girls when she slammed her locker door shut after shoving her books inside. She got her P.E. clothes and went to class.

**"**_**Potter**_**..."**

Leigh turned around when she heard her name called. "What? Did you say something?" She asked the girls that she startled. They looked at her with raised eyebrows that nastily reminded of Dudley. The girls looked at each other, then back at Leigh and snickered at her. Leigh frowned in confusion. How rude. Weren't they the ones talking to her? And now they have the nerve to laugh at her. She turned around frowning and rolled her eyes when she distinctly heard the word "freak" come from one of the girl's mouth. "Hmph," An eye twitched irritated. She sighed. "Well if they didn't say my name, then who did?" She shook her head and ruffled her hair as she left for class.

Leigh went to the locker room, got dressed, and smiled happily when she found out that Luna was in the same P.E. class as her. They walked onto the field with arms linked together. She was also somewhat surprised to see Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Orihime waiting for the class to begin as well.

"Ladies, gather around," The cousins were amused to find out that "Ladies," included the boys as well, but they didn't seem phased by the blatant insult. "Good, now you're going to be running all period," The coach said gruffly.

Leigh and Luna shrugged carelessly. That would be easily done. After all, Leigh spent a full year avoiding death eaters and Voldemort until all the horcruxes were destroyed and Luna had to deal with the Carrow twins until her father pulled her from school during Christmas break.

They all had to run the same path because the coach believed in equality for all when it came to physical education. Most of the girls except for Leigh, Luna, Orihime and Tatsuki complained that it wasn't fair that they had to run on the boy's trail. While some girls kept complaining about the long distance, others got over it and joined the four in stretching out their muscles when they couldn't convince the coach to let them run a shorter distance.

**"**_**Potter...**_**"**

There was that voice again. Leigh turned to Luna as if silently asking her if she was the one who'd spoken to her this time. At Luna's negative shake she glanced around trying to hide her worry. Luna pulled Leigh to whisper into her ear. "I don't understand what's calling you. Be careful," Leigh frowned and sighed. She automatically looked to the side and noticed Ichigo looking towards her.

Ishida was looking away, but he could tell that something was wrong when he felt Leigh's reiatsu spike.

"All right everyone, on the starting line," Coach barked. "You may start on my mark. Ready... Set... GO!"

Everyone started running at a different pace. Most were slow, so they could conserve energy, and some gave a quick start. Leigh was one of the quick starters. She decided on this so she could forget about the strange voice calling her name.

"Hey Leigh, you want to race?" Luna asked catching her pace.

"Sure, if you can keep up," Leigh returned playfully increasing her pace.

***

Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime, having run some distance away from everyone else were quietly discussing the shift in reiatsu coming from Leigh. Uryu had disappeared somewhere choosing not to run alongside them. Apparently, something about not wanting to be annoyed by Kurosaki. Ichigo grumbled in annoyance and called the dark haired, glasses-wearing guy a bastard.

"I hope she's okay. Leigh seemed distressed. Thankfully her cousin was there to cheer her up," Orihime said smiling.

"I'm not so sure," Ichigo replied.

"What do you mean?" Chad inquired.

"Do you see the looks she wears on her face ever since she's come here?" Ichigo said. "Something's happened to her. She frowns a lot,"

"Kind of like you," Orihime spoke up, but Ichigo ignored the comment.

"... And she never really smiles. Whenever she does, it's fake," Ichigo continued.

"I am curious. Why the sudden interest in her? You've never talked about a girl before, at least not to this extent. Normally, you're annoyed because it's about someone who snubbed your hair," Chad said, his eyebrow raised hidden behind his long, messy bangs.

Ichigo shook his head. "I don't know. Ever since she moved next door to me, it's like she's pulling me in and doesn't even realize it. I'm not sure why, but I can't seem to ignore her like I would anyone else," Ichigo said.

"I didn't know she moved next door to you. Do you talk to her often?" Orihime asked curiously.

"Yeah, whenever I can get away from the old man bothering me constantly. She's pretty smart. I've seen one of her drawings too. Hell of a lot better than Kuchiki's drawings that's for sure."

"Don't let Rukia-san here her say that," Orihime giggled.

"I'm talking about both of them actually. Rukia and Byakuya are really crappy artists," He replied.

"D-Does Kurosaki-kun have a c-c-crush on Leigh-chan?" Orihime asked suddenly in his face.

Ichigo's inner hollow made his appearance known once again when he started cackling. _"Really, Aibou. You're so easy to figure out. I'm surprised she didn't know sooner."_

Dark clouds surrounded his head. Great, even the ever oblivious Inoue, Orihime was able to figure him out. That means that Chad must have figured it out as well. Ichigo usually got good grades, but Chad's were always a little better than his own.

Chad's eyes were wide then narrowed as he thought about something worrying. "I see."

"But?" Ichigo continued.

"But I'm concerned. We only just returned from Seireitei the bounts destroying the place, and before that Aizen betrayed them as well," Chad continued.

Ichigo frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"How much do you know about her Ichigo. What if she's working for Aizen or a new threat? I'm not trying to accuse her of anything but..."

"She doesn't," Ichigo said at once defending Leigh. He closed his eyes to contain the small flash of anger he was feeling.

"How do you know?" Chad asked. Orihime turned her head worriedly to her friends.

"Because I saw one of the pictures she drew. It was a hollow."

"So, she can see them too?" Orihime asked.

"Yes, but when she showed me the picture she said she didn't know what it was and I didn't tell her what it was either."

"Ichigo, are you sure?" Chad asked.

"I don't believe she has anything to do with Aizen or anyone else who's caused us trouble in the past. I don't know why. That is just what I believe," Ichigo finished going back to running.

_"Aibou, this isn't just your protective nature talking. It's instinct,"_ Ichigo's hollow said to himself. He didn't allow Ichigo to hear him.

***

Thanks to Leigh and Luna's amazing endurance they were able to bypass anyone who was in front of them, not realizing that the two cousins were racing each other. They weaved in and out of other people's way before they were finally ahead of most people. Leigh didn't see Ichigo, Orihime, or Chad anywhere. She guessed that they were up ahead, but considering the pace she and Luna were running she figured they'd catch up soon enough.

**"**_**Potter...**_**"**

_"Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign."_ Hermione said that to Leigh in second year when she was hearing voices that no one else could hear. Then soon after, people and pets were turning up petrified, but never dead. It turned out that Hermione had the answer before she ended up petrified herself. It had been a basilisk she was hearing through the plumbing, so no one else would be able to hear it or understand it, unless they spoke Parseltongue, the snake language.

Leigh's eyes widened as she realized what she was hearing. "How could I be so stupid? Luna, no wonder you couldn't understand it. You saw a snake talking to me didn't you? That's what I'm hearing."

"Yes, that's what I saw," Luna replied nodding.

The two ladies stopped running and suddenly forgot about their race. "But, where is it, and how does it know my name?" Leigh asked.

"My guess, is that it's following us, because you heard it again, didn't you?" Luna said. Leigh's life was very important to her. She was the only person she had left besides Professor McGonnigal, who pretended to be their grandmother. However, she felt more connected with Leigh because she was the only one who hadn't seen her as a freak because of her odd abilities while others gave her odd looks and turned their backs to her. Ginny had been a good friend too, but they hadn't been very close and Hermione was smart, but too logical for her to connect with, unlike Leigh.

"Did you see anything else? Should I be worried?" Leigh asked looking Luna in the eyes.

"You meet the snake, but after that, it goes blank, so I don't know. I try to catch as much as I can, but sometimes, the future doesn't let me because it knows that I'll tell you, but just to be safe I'd be on my guard if I were you," Luna admitted.

Leigh shook her head. "It's okay. My future is just something I have to find out for myself, instead of relying on you all the time."

They began running again and Leigh remembered their race when Luna suddenly took off at a higher speed than her. She snickered slyly when she guided just a tad bit of magic to her feet. It helped her a little bit, but it didn't give her too much speed boost. It usually happened naturally when she wanted to get away from something. She used to do it when she was younger and aware of her magic when she wanted to avoid Dudley and his gang of stupid following idiots, but did so unknowingly.

Luna smirked when she saw her cousin cheat. It didn't bother her one bit. In fact it pleased her when she saw Leigh cheating like that because it meant she was having fun. Luna was able to do it too. They continued running. Once again they passed everyone who managed to get ahead of them while they were stopped and others, such as Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, Uryu, and Tatsuki, who were usually the fasted people in the class.

"You can't beat me," Luna taunted as she inched ahead of Leigh when they were near Ichigo and his friends.

"Oh yeah?" Leigh asked taking the bait.

Ichigo was shocked and impressed by the speed Leigh was achieving. He was a fast runner in his human form, but she would no doubt be easy to catch up to if he was in his shinigami form. The girl definitely confused him. He wanted to know more. Hopefully, he'd find out after school, like promised. Most importantly, he wanted to know why her smile was fake.

The final class of the day arrived more quickly then Leigh was prepared for. Her conversation with Ichigo was drawing closer by the second and she was worried about his reaction towards her. The only thing keeping her mind occupied at the moment was the fact that she was in art class with a canvas and paint in front of her. Today, the assignment was merely to paint what was in your heart, so to cheer herself up she decided to start working on Dumbledore's portrait of a candy store background with the headmaster's chair she once saw in the Great Hall.

The sound of brush strokes making their way across the thick material relaxed Leigh as she carefully made the interior building of the candy shop. She easily forgot about the people around her as she focused on her own painting. She wasn't even aware when the person standing next to her was watching her paint with an impressed expression on their face. In fact she became so absorbed with a butterfly candy cane that the sensei had to call her name a third time to catch her attention.

"Potter-san!" Sensei said voice raised.

Leigh nearly jumped out of her shoes when she finally heard sensei's voice.

"I'm impressed you're so focused on the painting, but you're being called to the headmaster's office," Sensei said.

"Oh, sorry," Leigh smiled sheepishly.

"It's fine. Go on and clean up. Go ahead and leave your painting where it is to dry. You can finish it tomorrow if you don't return to class," Sensei said gently.

Leigh nodded and set out to thoroughly clean her brushes and hands before setting off to the office with her back pack and homework. Leigh sighed as she walked down the empty quiet halls to the office to see what the principal wanted. She thought back throughout her day. She couldn't think of anything she might have done to cause trouble or risk her life for anything.

When she arrived to the office door she pressed her hand to the knob and slowly turned it before stopping when she heard voices behind the door. The reason she stopped herself from further opening the door was because she heard her name said by someone terribly familiar and it wasn't from her fake Grandmother.

"May I ask why you are interested in this job, and how a student by the name of Potter, Leigh could be able to reference you?" Mizuki-sensei asked.

"I simply love seeing children learn and being the one who taught them. I've taught Potter-san in the past and would possibly like to have the opportunity to do it again when I heard that she attended school here. I ask for her because I hope that she'll tell you about all she's learned from me," The lady replied.

**"**_**Potter, I've come to warn you,**_**" **Leigh heard hissed from behind her.

**"**_**Where are you?"** _Leigh hissed in reply.

The snake came out. Leigh sighed at her bad luck. It was a freakin' King Cobra.

**"**_**I've came to warn you-**_**"**

**_"I got that. Now what is-"_**

**"**Mizuki-sensei, could you see if she's here, I think I just heard her voice,"

Leigh stiffened in shock. This lady was definitely no muggle. Muggles couldn't hear snake language when spoken. All they would here is hissing noises. Then again, it wasn't very loud unless you understood the language or had magic as well. At the moment Leigh, thought "witch" when she saw the door to the office open, so she decided to raise her arm, like she was about to knock on the door.

"Ah, Potter-san. Good you're here. Please come in," Mizuki-sensei held the door open for her to walk through.

Leigh walked nervously through the door thinking of any spell she may need to use if this person was a threat. She stopped short of breath when she saw the person sitting behind the headmaster's desk. She hissed the bitch's name when she saw Bellatrix Lestrange sitting so casually and innocent like a muggle.

Leigh reached for her wand. Bellatrix hummed and tauntingly shook her head no. She pointed in the headmaster's direction. Leigh looked to the corner of her eye. Behind the portly man was a knife pointed at his back. Leigh guessed that the man had no idea of the position he was in, and it seemed she was in a shitty one again.

She glared back at Bellatrix. _"Bitch,"_ She thought. _"I should kill her where she sits, but I'd be risking innocent lives. It would hit the headmaster if she dodges it. What should I do? I can't fight her in the school."_

Bellatrix giggled and drew her wand. "Avada Kedavra."

Mizuki-sensei slumped to the floor in dead with a shocked expression on his face. Leigh gasped as the green light struck the man faster than she could protect him.

"Why thank you very much for getting Potter for me dear headmaster, but you've served your use, so I don't really feel like allowing you to watch as she dies." Bellatrix giggled and turned to Leigh. "Well, now that you've just allowed another human life to be killed. Come with me Potter, or I won't hesitate in adding to the list of deaths caused by you. Don't even try to apparate away. The school is surrounded with the Dark Lord's remaining followers."

Leigh grit her teeth and ignored the bitch. She drew her wand. There was really no point in hesitating anymore now that the headmaster was dead.

"Stupify!"

The spell was easily knocked aside.

"Expelliaramus!"

"Silly baby Potter. Are you still using baby spells like that? Come on now? Where's the Potter that managed to defeat the Great Dark Lord?" Bellatrix taunted.

"Still obsessed with him, huh? Just leave him be. He's dead now." Leigh said disgusted.

Bellatrix's laughter turned insane as she continued to speak.

"Defeated, oh no. Not for long."

Leigh raised an eyebrow. "What? What the hell are you talking about? I destroyed his very soul. He is gone. Get a life." Her wand raised again. Now two wands were pointed at each of the witch's faces. "Better yet, keep doing what you're doing. I'd like to have the pleasure of sending your soul to hell after what you did to my friends!" Leigh screamed.

"SECTUMSEPRA!"

Bellatrix screamed with glee as she dodged the spell and flew out the newly broken window. She disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. Leigh grabbed to the the magic that was left of the apparition and disappeared in her own white cloud, not caring where it lead her.

***

Luna's eyes snapped open as she saw Leigh leave the dead headmaster's office. She stood up quickly knocking over her chair and desk and ran out the room as fast as she could, wishing she could apparate. She didn't bother dealing with the sensei this time, her makeshift cousin was more important. Even if she couldn't apparate without Leigh's help, she still knew where she was going to end up.

She quickly flipped open her phone to call Minerva a call, but cried in frustration when there was no answer. If Minerva wasn't answering her phone, this was definitely not good.

***

Leigh yelled in frustration as she grabbed onto one apparition gate after another.

"Stop running you cowardly bitch. You are the one who came after me, so stop fucking running and lets finish this!" Leigh screamed angrily.

"Oh? This will never be finished. Not as long as you're still alive and the Dark Lord dead." Bellatrix giggled from behind.

Leigh stiffened.

"What? There you go again. You mean you intend to bring him back to life? Sorry, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed. Like I said, his soul is completely dead, so how do you intend to bring him back if there's another way?" Leigh replied thinking about her next curse.

"Why, with your magic of course. You will give me your magic, and help me revive him so he can continue to live and take over this pathetic place called existence" Bellatrix replied. "Get her now!" She commanded the other Death Eaters.

***

Visions flashed before Luna's eyes as she ran to the junior section of the school. The person she was looking for was not Leigh, but someone who could help save her. The bell rang when she finally found the correct classroom she was looking for. Most of the students rushed excitedly out of the classroom since it was the weekend. Only three remained in the room; Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime.

Luna rushed into the room with tears running down her face as she felt a small sense of relief that she found Ichigo, but she so desperately wanted to be where Leigh was.

"Ichigo! Please, I need your help!" She cried.

Ichigo turned from his desk to her and caught her before she fell. "What's wrong?"

"Luna-san, what's the matter?" Orihime asked.

"Calm down. Tell us what's wrong," Chad responded.

"Please, please, just hurry up and go into your shinigami form." Luna pleaded.

The three were shocked at what the smaller blonde just said. "H-How do you-"

"Please, just hurry. You're the only one who can help. Leigh's going to die if we don't hurry!" Luna cried. Tears continued cascading down her cheeks.

"WHAT!" Chad and Orihime shouted in shock.

Ichigo didn't know what the hell was going on, but at the moment his gut told him to believe Leigh's cousin, and the thought of hearing the words Leigh and death in the same sentence didn't sit well with him. Without another thought he took out his shinigami badge and jabbed it to his chest. Ichigo's soul came out of his body and strapped to his back was his large zanbakuto, that was always in it's shikai form.

He gave his body to Orihime.

"Take my body home and put Kon into it," Ichigo said. "Chad?"

"Of course I'm coming Ichigo," Chad replied.

Ichigo nodded. He turned towards Luna. "All right. Where is Leigh?"

The King Cobra that spoke with Leigh and was unable to complete it's warning, came into the room. Luna pulled out her wand and aimed it at the snake.

"Why are you doing this?" Luna shouted.

The snake changed it's form as fast as it could. A tall middle-aged man with long blond hair appeared where the snake should have been.

"Believe me, I wanted nothing to do with this. I only came here to warn Potter, but you really should be careful when you send unprotected letters. Especially when it's her..."


	5. Help her!

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or Bleach. Love the stories though.

Chapters 9 and 10 combined to make chapter 5. Enjoy!

***

_"Why are you doing this?" Luna shouted._

_The snake changed it's form as fast as it could. A tall middle-aged man with long blond hair appeared where the snake should have been._

_"Believe me, I wanted nothing to do with this. I only came here to warn Potter, but you really should be careful when you send unprotected letters. Especially when it's her..."_

"Lucius Malfoy... If you had nothing to do with this, then why are you even here?" Luna asked trying, but failing to contain her worry for Leigh.

"Luna, I'm willing to help, but can you explain what's going on?" Ichigo asked. "Please?" The sudden switch between languages gave him a small headache. He wasn't bad at the English language thanks to the classes, but he needed a minute to get used to the switch.

"The only reason I came to warn Potter was to pay her back for saving my son in the fire in the Room of Requirement," Lucius said.

Luna swallowed some air to contain her frustration. "Malfoy, you have much more to make up for, if you think that a small warning is enough."

The blond sighed. "I know where she's being kept. Do you want to save your precious savior or not? If you seem to love her so much than lets go." He looked behind Luna and noticed two other boys. One of them was emitting some kind of energy that he didn't recognize. The other looked just like an ordinary person, so why did the girl look so desperate for the orange-haired boy to follow her?

Ichigo remained uncharacteristically silent so he could concentrate and understand the foreign language, and because he didn't know what the hell was going on. "Why the hell did the old man call Leigh savior? Just what the hell was going on before she moved here?" Ichigo thought to himself.

"Luna-san, who exactly is Leigh to you?" Chad voiced both his and Ichigo's question.

She turned to face them, her face for the first time since they met her, not containing the dream-like state, but rather sadness.

"If you come with me and help save her, I will tell you what I can." Luna replied.

"Don't you know her very well? I thought you were cousins." Chad continued.

"What I mean is that I'd rather Leigh told you herself. I've actually only known her for three years, and were not actually cousins," Luna explained.

"Well, let us hurry then," Lucius announced. He pulled out his serpent headed walking stick and held it out to them.

"Since none of you have the capability to apparate, I suggest you hold onto this. I've incorporated a temporary portkey that will take you to Leigh. All you need to do is grasp it with a hand or finger and it will transport you from one place to another instantly," He explained to the boy's confused faces. "I suggest you grab on quickly. It will go off in twenty seconds." Lucius warned.

Ichigo and Chad glanced at each other before grabbing onto the cane. Once they returned there was definitely going to be some serious explaining to do. Ichigo had to wonder though. Before Leigh was captured, had she had any intention of telling him the truth?

They felt a tugging sensation being pulling on there stomachs and a few seconds later the three vanished.

Lucius sighed as he saw his cane disappear. "Well, I better hurry behind them. I should go get those death eaters off McGonnigal or Potter's not going to be anymore happier when she figures out how to get out of this situation," He said to himself.

With a loud crack, he was gone from the building.

What no one saw, was the black cat with gold eyes that decided to hang out just below the window to sunbathe. The cat stretched its limbs and gave a big yawn. It strolled away to meet a friend.

***

Leigh coughed, breathing hard. She grimaced at the foul taste of blood in her mouth. She'd only just woken up again a minute ago and realized that she was no longer in the streets of Karakura fighting against Bellatrix. She felt tight chains around her wrists again reminding her of her time in the Malfoy Manor. She shook her head. No, this was not the time or place to be thinking about her depressing memories.

She looked around she realized that she wasn't chained to a wall, but the stone she was actually feeling against her back was the ground. She moved around the best she could to figure out where exactly she was located. She arched her neck to the side and gasped as a sharp and painful sensation filled her being. She gave a small groan at the pain. She closed her eyes to see if she could remember what exactly happened to cause her to be in this state of pain.

**flashback...**

"Get her!" Bellatrix commanded.

Leigh and Bellatrix exchanged spells and curses trying to outdo the other. Bellatrix laughed manically as she successfully landed another cutting curse on Leigh's stomach along with other places on her body. She relished in the sounds of Leigh's cries of pain, sounding like dying cats. However, despite the pain Leigh was feeling from the deep cuts on her body and arms, she managed to hold up a shield charm while she thought about what she could do to defeat Bellatrix.

_"Obviously Mrs. Weasley's blasting curse didn't kill her like I thought. I'm surprised she's the type to want revenge. I thought she'd want to join her beloved Dark Lord wherever he went if he failed in killing me. I guess I was wrong,"_ Leigh thought.

She could feel her shield weakening as she felt the shards of glass from a window get through her shield in grains of sand.

_"What do I do? My body's already hurting, and I've barely scratched her. Have I lost my edge since I destroyed Voldemort? I should have known that the fighting wouldn't end when Voldemort did."_ Leigh cast a blasting curse towards on of Bellatrix's men who tried to come up from behind. "Bellatrix you fool. It's impossible to steal a person's magic. The only reason I was able to gain the ability of talking to snakes was because a part of the bloody, annoying snake's soul was inside me," She thought to herself.

Bellatrix giggled as she looked around her and saw that her nameless companions were all lying on the ground dead. Some were unrecognizable with mangled bodies due to Leigh's curses.

"Hmm. Now, there's the killer I remember." Bellatrix smiled. Her cold anger-filled eyes sparkled with pure amusement. "But I wonder something."

"What?" Leigh responded coldly.

_"My body's aching. I can't fight in my school uniform. I better switch to my robes,"_ She thought.

"During the battle at Hogwarts, how did you manage to convince everyone around you that the spell you used was merely a disarming charm?" Bellatrix asked. "Well?"

"That..." Leigh put a switching spell on her uniform stained with blood, and replacing them was the battle clothing Professor Dumbledore gave to her in secret before he died by Severus Snapes hand. A black robe surrounded her body, tied together with a small, golden phoenix pendent. Underneath her robes was loose knee-length pants and a skin-tight shirt that was armed with defensive spells that would protect her from most spells. _"Geez, I should have switched earlier. I'm not sure what good these will do me now."_

"I'm not telling you. That is none of your concern. You just believe what you want, like everyone else," Leigh finished.

"Oh? So what the daily prophet said was actually correct?" Bellatrix crowed.

_"Was it you that told the bloody menace of a reporter that I had some unimaginable power?"_ She thought scowling.

"Of course. Why am I not surprised that you would leave the battle managing to convince everyone that I was the next dark witch or something?" Leigh said out loud.

"Well, what does it matter? You did what the prophecy asked and look how they repaid you. If they were your true friends, they would have believed you no matter what a foolish news paper reported about you," Bellatrix said.

"What true friends are you talking about exactly?" Leigh asked coldly. "The only true friend I have left is Luna. Why do you think I decided to leave England in the first place? Thanks to you, Hermione is dead and Ron hates me."

"Aw... is baby Potter still playing the blame game? Shouldn't it be perhaps that you just weren't strong enough to protect your friends that you allowed them to die?" Bellatrix taunted.

Leigh clenched a fist. She shut her eyes tightly before releasing them. "You knew it was me at Malfoy manor, despite the appearance change Hermione put on me, didn't you?" She gave a small chuckle. "Well then, perhaps you're right. If I had been strong enough I wouldn't have even need their help in looking for the Horcruxes. I know it's my fault they've left my side but, what no one knows is where I went afterwards."

_"Somehow, I've managed to block that from Luna. Probably because of my occlumency shields,"_ She thought.

"Where did you go?"

"Funny, aren't you being surprisingly chatty for someone who wants to take away my magic and see me dead?" Leigh smirked.

"Hmm. Yes, you're right for once," Bellatrix shouted an unknown spell and managed to shock Leigh. She dropped her wand when her wrist bent in the wrong direction. She screamed as she felt the bone slowly crack.

Bellatrix giggled as she repeated the process on Leigh's other wrist. Leigh tried to defend herself against the spell, but it easily by-passed through her shields. Once Leigh was passed out bleeding on the ground she shot another spell at the girl's fallen wand and shattered the wand and core to pieces.

**End Flashback...**

"Oh right, so that's what happened. No wonder I shouldn't have moved," Leigh said. "Now that I think about it, I'm surprised that I'm still even alive. I was unconscious. Why didn't Bellatrix take her opportunity to kill me when she had the chance?"

The sound of Bellatrix's manic giggles filled the air. She resisted the urge to shiver in disgust as the vile sound reached her ears. She moved her head towards the voice and gasped when she forgot about the pain the surged through her again. She silently apologized to her body and promised never to do that again if she could help it.

"Why you ask, did I let you remain alive these passed few minutes?" Bellatrix began. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out her wand aiming it at Leigh once again. "Because I want you to feel the full experience of the pain I'm going to put you through,"

Leigh wiggled her toes just a little bit and to her disappointment she could see that her feet have also been shackled to the ground as well.

Bellatrix rose her wand and aimed it at Leigh's chest. She screamed the cruciatus curse with the anger it needed. However, Leigh felt nothing.

"Sorry Bellatrix, but Albus Dumbledore made this shirt for me himself, and ensured some basic protection inside whenever I wear it. That includes the Cruciatus Curse," Leigh spoke softly.

"Oh? Is that correct? Did the old fool by chance remember about a certain spell that Snape created when he was out for revenge against your father?" Bellatrix asked.

Leigh's eyes widened. "SHIT!" Leigh thought.

"It looks like I'll find out," Leigh responded.

"Let me ask you something. Do you know what is required in order for someone's magic to be taken from their body?"

Leigh took a breath. "Well, I imagine given the spell you're about to use that it requires my blood," she answered.

"Although, I think all that spell is going to do is kill me. Damn, it looks like Luna's not going to get her wish of seeing me get married one day," Leigh thought grimly.

"Sectumsempra!"

More pain then the one hundred cutting curses or cruciatus curses combined filled Leigh's nerves as she heard her shirt tear apart under the pressure of the curse. She'd only felt a second of resistance before the bloody shirt gave way to the curse. Dark spots surrounded her vision as another Sectumsempra was tore into her body.

_"Was this how Draco felt when I mistakenly used the curse on him in sixth year? If it was, then I owe you big time,"_ She thought.

Blood filled her mouth and trickled down the sides of her cheeks as three ribs broke and tore into her lungs.

Leigh's eyes blackened as they lost the life that remained inside them. Oh, but what a way to go. Maybe she'd get to see her parents again. Hermione, Sirius, and Remus too. She could apologize to Cedric for getting him killed while she was at it.

Bellatrix gasped in ecstasy as she saw the thick red blood flowing from Potter's body. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

_"Yes,"_ Bellatrix thought excited. _"The process is nearly complete."_

She thought about the next part of the ritual. The next step was to pour the black potion over the blood. The purpose of the potion would extract the victims magic from the blood. Bellatrix poured the thick substance into Leigh's blood. She watched exhilarated as the potion mixed with the blood. The potion was going to extract the magic the way steam came from boiling water.

She watched with anticipation for Potter's power to rise so it will belong to her. It would be hers to give to her Dark Lord for his resurrection. As she waited for the potion to do its job, she heard noises coming from the outside the large room.

***

Luna landed gracefully as the portkey ended its transport. She heard the thump of Ichigo and Chad falling to the floor as they lost their footing from the unfamiliar way of travel. She would have been amused at the sight of the two strong-looking men fall to the floor, but she couldn't focus on them. The person she was most worried about was Leigh. She wanted to be by her side as quickly as she was capable of, that she was barely able to wait while Ichigo and Chad climbed back onto their feet.

"Geez, that's an odd way to travel," Ichigo commented off-handedly.

Chad nodded agreeing. He looked around the unfamiliar hallway, then looked to Luna. "Where are we Luna-san?" He asked out of curiosity.

Luna looked up and around when she heard the question. She groaned sadly when she saw a familiar doorknob across the hall. She placed a hand over her mouth worriedly.

"Why?" Luna nearly cried even though she already knew. "Why did that... that bitch have to take her here?"

Ichigo looked towards Luna as he heard the tears gather in her voice. In the way she spoke, she'd obviously been here before and clearly Leigh has too. Whatever may have happened caused terrible effects on Leigh.

"Luna-san?" Ichigo ushered her along.

Luna closed her eyes tightly. "We are at the entrance to the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic in London. This is the place where she lost one of the most important people in her life. This is the last place I would ever want Leigh to revisit if she had the choice."

"What happened?" Ichigo asked. A feeling of dread filled his body when he was suddenly reminded of his mother because she had been the most important person in his life before she was killed by a hollow because she wanted to rescue her son.

"Well... Leigh, Minerva, and I are witches," Luna said.

"Witches? As in magic? Is that actually real?" Chad asked skeptically.

"Yes, it's real. Not the way muggles like to perform magic tricks, but the real magic comes from birth. Whether your born with it or not will depend if you can use it. It's not something that can just be taught out of the blue. The only thing about magic is that not everyone notices us, and others don't want to. When Leigh was fifteen she used to have terrible dreams. Every time they occurred, they were all about this room. Something would happen in the dream each time. It wasn't until she saved her one of her friend's father that anyone realized that these dreams were real and happening at the same time,"

"The Department of Mysteries," Chad rationalized. "What does this department do exactly?"

"Let's put it like this. It's a department where all the underground, behind the scenes work is done, if I phrase it in a muggle-like fashion." Luna replied.

"Like what?" Chad asked.

"Very secret stuff, but from what I've seen they deal with prophecies. As a matter of fact, this is where Leigh found her own prophecy. The one that caused her to become the chosen one who would save our world."

"What's a muggle?" Ichigo asked.

"They're non-magical people. That's what someone who is a witch or wizard would refer to a normal human," Luna replied.

"What else did she used to see in her dreams?" Ichigo asked frowning.

Luna opened her mouth to reply then thought twice about it. Most of Leigh's dreams were too personal to spill freely without her expressed permission. If she gave away to many of Leigh's secrets, there would be hell to pay, such as the fact that she may lose her friend if she did.

"You can't say?" Ichigo asked gently.

Luna nodded affirming his guess.

"It's okay. I understand. I wouldn't want people sprouting out my secrets to everyone either," Ichigo said.

"Thank you. It's not like I know everything that happens to her either. My sight won't always let me see everything she decides to do," Luna said.

"Sight? Meaning what? Just for clarification that is?" Chad asked

"I can see small scenes of the future," Luna said giving a small smile.

"Now that was blunt," The boys thought shocked.

"I-I see," Ichigo muttered. "That's quite a thing to say out in the open like this," Ichigo thought.

"Don't worry, no one is here. We are all alone," Luna reassured the the two as the trio arrived to the door that separated them from Leigh. "Why isn't anyone here? That's what worries me," Luna thought.

"I didn't even say that out loud. She can anticipate what I'm going to say too?" Ichigo thought.

"Can you prove that you can see the future Luna-san?" Chad asked intrigued.

"Hmm," Luna's eyes glazed for a second. "Let's see Ichigo-san, your birthday is July 15th right?"

"Y-yes it is," Ichigo replied stunned again. With wide eyes he thought, "Whoa she wasn't joking."

"Oh I can joke, just not really in the mood right now, and for future reference, Leigh's birthday is July 31st." Luna said lightly. Her faced turned serious.

"Now, before I take you inside I need to tell you, as I said before Leigh agreed to fulfill the prophecy. Prophecies as a whole are very hard to interpret, so it didn't necessarily mean that it had to be her, but there were signs that pointed out that it was her. Even though there was one other person who became a candidate of the prophecy, she was marked as Voldemort's equal. Voldemort and his followers called Death Eaters put her through hell and back. After her best friend was killed and the other left her due to hatred, she disappeared from my sight for three months. I couldn't even find her because she learned how to protect her mind from intruders with a branch of magic called Occlumency. No one knows where she went during that time frame. I know that she was destroying the horcruxes, but for some reason, I suspect that there was more to it when she was gone," Luna explained.

"What's a horcrux?" Chad asked.

"Very curious, these people are. Just like Leigh's personality. I hope that doesn't irritate her too much," Luna thought.

Luna explained that the horcruxes were broken pieces of a soul that were implanted in objects. They could also be contained into living beings and the only way to create one would be to kill someone.

Luna pulled out her wand and whispered the unlocking spell on the door. However, it was ineffective when it wouldn't open.

"There's a ward over the door. I should have expected this from Bellatrix," Luna said thoughtfully. She thought a moment. She looked at chad contemplatively.

"Chad-kun, would you mind punching the door twice as hard as you can around the middle please?" Luna requested.

"Ah," Chad grunted in agreement.

Chad clenched his right fist tightly and concentrated his reiatsu into his arm. The reiatsu caused his arm to change. It was now covered with black armor, which extended past his shoulder.

The first punch would be to break the ward because as Luna inspected the ward she discovered that it was relatively flimsy at best. She figured Bellatrix must want to get her job done quickly, so she rushed on making the wards, or she was to happy about what she was going to "accomplish" that she hardly concentrated on how well done the wards were put up. Whichever the case was, it didn't matter because Chad was successful in breaking through the wards and obliterating the door that lead inside the room.

Bellatrix turned around startled when she felt the wards drop instantly and she was startled to find a royally pissed off Luna Lovegood with her wand drawn, an orange-haired guy with a giant sword in hand pointing in her direction, and a muggle with an abnormal arm. The two males yelled in a foreign language she didn't understand and noted that they were looking at the annoying Potter girl. She smirked when their expressions turned sad at the disfigured body on the ground.

"Oh? Sorry you are to late," Bellatrix cooed.

Luna turned her back to Bellatrix and raced to Leigh as fast as she could. Tears filled her eyes as she saw the blood pooled beneath Leigh's body. She dropped to her knees as she reached Leigh's side. She noted both Leigh's broken wrists and healed them with the same spell she did for her nose when Malfoy stomped on it in her sixth year. She removed the chains attached to Leigh's body. She ripped the tattered shirt the rest and placed her ear to Leigh's blood-stained chest.

"Come on. Wake up, please," Luna pleaded.

Ichigo stepped slowly as he saw Luna work to free Leigh from her restraints. What she must have been through he had no idea, but he could certainly see the end result. Sadness mixed with anger welled up in his chest when he saw Leigh lying in her own blood. Her wounds were bad, but was it too late for Orihime to heal her? He couldn't see her chest moving as Luna was checking desperately to see if she was.

"I told you! You're to late to save her. In just a minute her magic will be all mine and the Dark Lord will be thankful to me for resurrecting him," Bellatrix sneered at the brats. "There's no way you'll be able to interfere with me now."

"Your nothing but crazy woman," Ichigo snapped in English. "I should kill you for what you have done."

"Oh? Do you think you can little boy?" Bellatrix cooed in her baby voice again.

Ichigo twitched in irritation when he heard the bitch's annoying-to-hell voice. "I know I can," He said about to step forward and slash a well-aimed Getsuga Tenshou at her.

However, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Wait a minute Ichigo. Remember what Luna-san said. You are the only one who can help Leigh from dying. She's already not breathing on her own, so there must be something else you can do," Chad said.

He turned back to Leigh and Luna who was frantically trying to heal Leigh's chest the best she could. By how deep the wounds were, she was going to have a few scars.

"Go help Luna. I'll take care of her," Chad said. He nodded and turned to face the woman who committed this atrocious act on the girl his best friend liked the most.

_"Maybe even love? Well, we'll see later,"_ Chad pondered for a second.

"It's not in my nature to harm a woman, however..."

***

Ichigo settled opposite of where Luna sat on the other side of Leigh's still pale form. His eyes narrowed when he saw the blood she was lying in disappear back into her. Magic... was certainly strange, but so was reiatsu. Her wounds closed slowly under Luna's stick, or wand he supposed. Some of them were scarring, as he expected. However, to see her like this made him feel somewhat useless. How could he help her? He didn't heal things, Zangetsu's power was based on attacking and destroying.

_"Aibou, coming from me, this may sound surprising to hear, but perhaps attacking in a physical way isn't the best option in this case," _Ichigo's hollow said reluctantly.

Ichigo blinked. Yet, another unexpected turn of events for his hollow ever since he met Leigh. It's like the girl was unknowingly taming the beast.

"And how do you propose I do that?" Ichigo asked in frustration as he tried to think.

_"How many times do I have to tell you Aibou-baka. Stop using your brain and take note of that power you claim to have. Use-"_ Hollow said.

"My instincts. I know! Shut up already," Ichigo said.

_"Rude much Aibou? Now, do your thing. I'll help you,"_ Ichigo's hollow sneered. Ichigo didn't hear him.

Ichigo took a deep breath and released it slowly. His eyes blazed with power. He didn't think about it when he placed his hand over Leigh's heart and the other one on the ground to brace himself over her. He moved his hand from her heart and gently placed his hand behind her neck to lift her head a little. He leaned over and placed his forehead against Leigh's and closed his eyes.


	6. It's Time to Wake Up

Thanks for reading and reviewing so far... Hmm. I seem to have a habit of switching between the movie and books with Harry Potter in certain scenes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Bleach

Pairings: Ichigo/Leigh, Renji/Rukia, Uryu/Orihime, Chad/Luna

Chapter 6

***

Leigh blinked stunned that she was actually capable of waking up, but what she opened her eyes to was nothing pleasant when she found herself, once again, chained to a wall.

"God, I hate chains," Leigh hissed in anger.

She began to look around to see where she was since she clearly wasn't going to die like she thought. The scene in front of her was one she hoped to never have to encounter again, but as luck was forever against her, she flinched when she heard the screams of Hermione and Ron.

She was trapped within her own memories thanks to the potion Bellatrix inserted into her own blood.

***

Ichigo opened his eyes when he stopped moving, but it didn't seem like it did much good because he was met with more darkness. He looked around and could hardly tell which way was forward or where he was supposed to go from there now that he has actually done something that's never happened before. He was inside someone else's mind instead of his own.

As he looked around he saw nothing but black, but that didn't mean it was quiet. He was beginning to hear a faint noise coming from somewhere. With nothing else to go on he decided to follow the noise to see where it lead him. As he was walking closer to the noise, the sound became clearer. He took one more step forward and the lack of scenery began to change. Gray clouds were forming all around the space and solidifying. A ground with streets, trees, flowers, and grass were forming. Next came buildings and finally people. Instead of darkness, the sun was clear as day.

"Where is this place?" Ichigo wondered as he looked around.

He looked for any street signs, but he didn't recognize the one he found named Godric's Hollow. He looked to the side and noticed he was standing in someone's front lawn. A beautiful two-story house stood next to it.

Ichigo nearly jumped when he heard a crack sound just a few inches away from him. Standing next to him about the same size he is, was a messy raven-haired man with thick round glasses. He had blue eyes and looked to be in his early twenties. While the man looked normal enough he wouldn't say that about his clothing if he compared it to the people strolling around the neighborhood. He wore long black robes that billowed slightly behind him as he walked. The expression on the man's face was disconcerting. He looked very worried about something, however as the man looked inside the window his expression seemed to relax if only a little.

Despite the man's interesting looks, something about the man's face made him want to follow him inside the house. It felt right to follow the man inside the house. It was a good thing they couldn't see him though. A red-head came out into the kitchen carrying a tiny baby.

The man and a women (his wife, he guessed) began to talk.

"What did you find out at the meeting James?"

"So far there hasn't been any news of Voldemort's whereabouts since we agreed to go into hiding. The Longbottoms are doing well too," James replied. James held out his arms to take the sleeping baby into his arms. He sighed in reassurance when he smoothed his daughter's hair away from her face. The tension in his face began to fade when he heard a small squeal.

"Ah, my little girl is awake," James said softly. He nuzzled her nose with his after adjusting his hold on her against his chest. His vision suddenly became nearly blind when his glasses were snatched from his face.

"DA! goofoo!" The baby gurgled.

"James, are you sure we made the right choice in switching to Peter?"

"What are you talking about Lily?"

"I don't know. I guess... I just get this strange feeling in my stomach whenever he's around."

"Hm. Your not getting romantic feelings about him, are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"James, I'm serious," Lily said concerned.

"I know, I'm sorry." He sat down next to her on the couch with the baby in arms. "You know, I would have preferred that Sirius was the secret keeper as much as you, but he did make a good point. Voldemort would think of him as the first person we'd choose to be the our secret keeper, so he's choosing to act as a decoy instead. It's okay, I trust Peter," James said trying to calm his wife.

Ichigo looked down at the baby in James' arms. The baby's small tuft of hair was as dark as her fathers, with a few strands of red in her hair. She had green eyes very green eyes just like the woman that had just previously held her.

"You're so cute, my little Marauder, but daddy needs his glasses so he can see," James said amused.

"Well, that's what you get for letting Sirius teach her how to snatch things,"

"Lily dear, he was just teaching Leigh how to be a seeker. You are never to young to learn quidditch," James said.

"Of course you would say that dear. You also think she isn't to young to start learning to prank her mother by flinging applesauce in her face instead of eating it," Lily said glaring at her husband.

James's mouth twitched. He couldn't help the proud expression that crossed his face as he spoke enthusiastically to his daughter. "No way! Did you really do that? That's my girl. Daddy is so proud of you. Your future as a marauder will be set soon enough. Next, I shall teach you the art of "the escape," he said proudly.

"So, these are Leigh's parents." Ichigo muttered. He rose an eyebrow at the familiar sounding tone James spoke when he nuzzled his daughter again. He was a doting father. He snorted shaking his head. He was suddenly reminded of his old man praising Karin and Yuzu for some inane reason.

Lily growled. "James Potter, I will not have my daughter become a delinquent."

"Delinquent! Lily how could you say such a thing? On the behalf of the Marauders, I am insulted." James cried outraged. He wiped fake tears from his eyes.

Her eyes narrowed. James held up a hand of surrender. "Oh alright, alright. I'll tell Sirius to stop." He amended.

"Good," Lily said shortly.

"We'll teach her when she's five," He said quickly.

"Oh James." She sighed exasperated. "It's time to put Leigh down for her nap."

Ichigo could see the picture of a loving family, but a thought came to him. Her parents died when she was a year old. How old was she in this memory? He closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

"Fuck. Am I about to see..." Ichigo didn't finish his thought because he was staring down at the sleeping baby in the crib.

After a few hours of sleep the baby opened her eyes. She looked around until her gaze stopped. Ichigo could swear she was looking right at him. He could see that she must have had a bad dream because her eyes looked scared and teary. Her face scrunched up and she let out her loud cries.

Ichigo bent down as if attempting to comfort her, but then he remembered this was just Leigh's memory. He wouldn't be able to touch her even if she was in her baby form.

The door opened and in came Lily. She picked her up and attempted to sooth her daughter. When she wouldn't stop from her mothers rocking, her diaper was checked. She was fed a bottle but she was not hungry. Baby Leigh was even handed to James so he could try and stop her crying, but not even he could win over his daughter's crying. The parents began to worry thinking that she may be sick.

Ichigo looked out the window. He handn't realized the time that passed because it was dark out, but it wasn't like the darkness that came before he entered the memory. There were stars twinkling in the sky and light illuminating from street lamps.

A door slammed open unexpectedly and Ichigo's gut had a wretched feeling inside.

Ichigo turned to face the Potter family's killer. His face was hidden by the hood of a cloak. Cold air filled the room as the being stepped through. If there was something he could have done, he would have more than happily protected this family.

"Lily it's him! Take Leigh and get out of here!" James yelled.

Lily barely had enough time to gather herself and Leigh to run up the stairs before James was struck in the chest by a green light.

Ichigo followed Lily as she ran up the stairs desperately clutching her beloved baby. When she slammed the door open into Leigh's nursery, Ichigo turned and could see a cloak-covered man following her as if he were merely gliding up the stairs. He looked into the room and heard Lily muttering soothing words to her daughter

"It will be okay sweetheart. I won't let him get you no matter what. I'll always protect you."

The door crashed in the room and in came Voldemort. Ichigo knew Leigh's parents were going to die, but he couldn't help but watch in morbid fascination. However all of a sudden something was grasping his wrist.

Any and all movement stopped as if frozen in time. Ichigo turned to the cause of the memory stopping and who was holding his wrist. It was a girl with very curly hair that it could almost be described as bushy.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"Kurosaki, Ichigo. What's your name?" He asked warily.

"I'm Hermione Granger." She answered. Her voice was very soft almost sad that he could barely hear her speak. He wondered what was the matter so he asked.

"Well, my memory has become my best friend's nightmare," She replied sadly.

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"You see," She turned around and spoke grimly. "She has this very strange idea that my death is her fault and that I blame her for it."

***

Chad looked around irritated. The women wouldn't stand still enough for him to get to her. She would disappear to quickly for him. After all he had strength speed was another question.

Luna looked up when she saw Chad's head looking around the room for Bellatrix.

"Chad-kun, you can stop now. She's gone. She finally realized that her plan is a failure," Luna said finally.

"What was her plan?" Chad asked. He walked up to where Ichigo and Leigh's body lay next to Luna.

"She wanted to steal Leigh's magic and use it to resurrect Voldemort, but it's not possible to steal someone's magic. She would either have it, or not. The only thing Bellatrix was doing was killing her."

"Why is Ichigo the only one who can save Leigh-san?"

Luna closed her eyes and sighed sadly. "Because, he will be able to give her a reason to keep living and moving forward."

Luna looked around. There was someone coming just behind the door. She figured that they probably finally realized that there was a disturbance in the department of mysteries.

"We should get going. My healing spell won't be enough to heal Leigh's wounds," Luna said.

"We should go see Urahara. He'll be able to help her out," Chad said.

Luna nodded and the best she could carried Leigh to the portkey, while Chad took care of Ichigo's body. When they tried to separate a foot apart they found that they couldn't. When they looked back the two were shocked to see that Ichigo's hand was firmly holding onto Leigh's arm.

***

"What do you mean? If you're Leigh's best friend, why did you become her nightmare?" Ichigo asked frowning.

"She has forgotten our happy times together. Now all she can think about is the way I died," Hermione replied.

"Then you're another memory?"

"That's correct. Of course I'm not actually here, but I still Hermione," She replied.

"The one she's forgotten."

"To be honest, I'm the one who pulled her in. It wasn't that badly made potion she was given."

"Why?" Ichigo asked confused.

"If she keeps thinking about me as her nightmare, then gradually she will be consumed by her guilt and forget the fact that she has a life to live. She'll forget about the new people she's met and the new friends she'll make will never be, especially you," Hermione explained.

"Why me?" Ichigo asked not quite understanding.

"The only thing I will say, is that your future together will be ruined if you can't help her."

***

When Luna and Chad arrived back in Karakura via portkey, they headed straight for Urahara Shoten. When they arrived they were greeted by Yoruichi in cat form and the blond man himself.

"Come on in Chad and the young lady. Perhaps you can explain what's going on." Urahara said turning inside the building.

They went inside and were told to place Ichigo and Leigh on a futon while they spoke.

"So, what you're saying is that Ichigo went into Leigh's mind and is trying to wake her up. Is that about the gist of it?" Urahara asked.

Luna nodded.

"Well, Kurosaki-kun. You sure meet the most interesting people, don't you?" He said. He looked down at the girl lying next to Kurosaki. He gave a small smirk at the hand that was clutching Leigh's arm like he was protecting her. He looked at Leigh's face and noticed a mark on her forehead where the lightening shaped scar was.

_"Where's Minerva at?" _Luna wondered. Her eyes glazed over in an attempt to look for her while using her sight. When she saw that Minerva was at the house she sighed in relief. The house was extremely messy inside from Death Eaters, but she seemed to be alright. Lucius and Orihime-chan were with her.

_"Yep, definitely the most interesting people, Kurosaki,"_ Urahara thought when he looked to the table and saw the newspaper lying. In giant bold letters stated, **"Leigh Potter Missing!"**

Tessai!" Urahara called

"Hai Urahara-sama!" A tall muscled man arrived as quickly as possible.

"Heal the rest of Potter-san's wounds."

"Hai." Tessai went right to work. "I'll have her better in no time."

"Things are about to get interesting. Ne Yoruichi-san?" he looked down at the black cat while speaking.

***

"Follow me, I'll take you to Leigh," Hermione stood up from the 'ground' having spoken to Ichigo to get a better idea of how he was like. While she may just be a memory, she was still a protective friend. So far, she approved. He seemed protective about those he cared for and to those who asked, but she could tell that he still had strength that needed to be found to grow.

Hermione snapped her fingers and the scenery began to change. Instead of frozen people there was Leigh chained to a wall. Her eyes were completely blank. She looked to be as Hermione described, lost in her own nightmares.

He steeped forward to her leaving Hermione to watch as he placed a hand to cup one of Leigh's cheek that was streaked with tears.

"Leigh it's time for you to wake up," Ichigo said.

Leigh didn't respond.

Ichigo detached his zanpakuto from his back and destroyed the chains that kept Leigh from her first step to freedom. He caught her before she could slump to the ground. He held her steady as he sat down. He carefully lied her back against his front so he could speak into her ear for her to hear him clearly.

He looked behind him to see if Hermione was still behind him, but she was gone.

"Leigh, you have to wake up. Everyone is worried about you."

There was still no response.

"Fine. You keep your eyes closed, but your ears better be open, so you can listen to me."

Leigh whimpered from within his lap.

"Believe me, I understand how you feel."

A spark of life filled Leigh's eyes as she began to acknowledge Ichigo's presence and voice. He understood how she felt? How could that be? She shifted in his lap and barely tilted her head to face him.

"How could you possibly understand?"

Ichigo sighed. Good she was awake, but now he had to get personal or she'd never believe him.

"I don't believe for one second that you are at fault for your friend's or any other person's death,"

"How do you?" She sputtered out.

"Luna," Ichigo replied.

"Oh. But I'm the Girl-Who-Lived, born under a prophecy to destroy a dark lord from destroying everything happy. I'm supposed to be strong, some all powerful witch that will protect everyone. Someone who cannot be hurt or killed. Several innocent people were killed by Voldemort; My parents, Cedric Diggory, my godfather, and my best friend Hermione. Now because of Hermione's death my other friend Ron hates me. And all because I couldn't kill Voldemort fast enough," Leigh muttered with frustration.

Leigh's energy was beginning to spike. He had to calm her down, so he placed her head in the curve of his neck and told her to be quiet while he talked. While doing so, he inserted some reiatsu into her hands to calm her.

"I lost a very important person to me as well. That creature you told me about... I know what it is. Its a hollow. When I was eight I was tricked by a hollow's illusion. They each have a unique ability and this one in particular was called the Grande Fischer. He was able to create illusion. He tricked me into thinking a girl needed help, so I went after it. At the time I didn't realize that it actually wanted to eat my soul. When it was ready to attack, my mother got in front of me just in time to save me, but... but it killed her. She died to protect me. I feel guilty about my mother's death every day. That's why I vowed to get stronger so it wouldn't happen to anyone else." His throat turned dry as he tried to explain.

Leigh closed her eyes as she finally let her tears fall. She tried to contain her shaking, but the damn was braking. She finally realized something as she had listened to Ichigo's story. Luna and Minerva had lost people too, but why was it that she couldn't accept it? She guessed she said it out loud because Ichigo answered her question.

"No one is expecting you to just get over this, but no one blames you for any of their deaths. I don't know what to say about your other friend Ron, but I would not think about their deaths as nightmares. Think about when you were happy with them alive." His eyebrows furrowed. "It may not feel so good to think that way, but it'll get easier."

He felt her body shake against his and his shinigami uniform becoming damp on his shoulder.

"There is one thing I can tell you. I hope it will give you the courage to keep going," He began. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered two words into her ear.

Dark spots entered his vision. They gradually got bigger as suddenly he wasn't holding onto Leigh anymore.

* * *

A/N. Here's the newest chapter. I hope you liked it. 8)


	7. MiniVacation part 1

A/N: Hi everyone here's the next chapter. I hope you're all enjoying it so far, and thanks for your support. ^.^

_"Thoughts,"_

_"Past thoughts,"_

"Speaking/Dialogue,"

Chapter 7

* * *

_"There is one thing I can tell you. I hope it will give you the courage to keep going..."_

Leigh lied in her bed beneath her sheets on sunday morning as she thought about the words Ichigo said in her mind. Come to think of it, how did he get into her mind, she wondered. She remembered the feeling of robes underneath her head as she cried into his shoulder. She didn't get a good look at what Ichigo was wearing, but she thought it wasn't something he wore around the house.

_"Get stronger,"_ is what Ichigo whispered to her before his presence disappeared.

It seemed that almost soon after he said these to words she woke up to find herself with Ichigo sitting right by her side with Luna, Chad-san, and Orihime-chan on the other. Hovering over her had been a very persistent person who was healing the wounds Luna couldn't heal herself. Persistent being, when she tried to sit up, she was immediately forced back down to the futon. She finally gave up when she saw the look on the blond man's face, who she was told was the owner of the store named Urahara, Kisuke_. _She didn't say a word all the way through her healing process and soon after the blond deemed her ready to sit up, he told Ichigo to carry her home to not let her put any pressure on her healing legs. Luna followed close behind. They didn't say a word to each other as he took her home and settled her on the couch. He turned around and walked out the door, but not before giving her a small wave. As soon as Ichigo closed the door, Minerva came out and told her that she would be staying home for the following week. She was not allowed to go to school. Her main priority would be to rest and relax.

This is where we find Leigh in her room as soon as she was helped to her bed by Luna. As soon as they had arrived Luna didn't let go of her and kept hugging her for five more minutes.

_"No matter what anyone says, I love you Leigh. You're the sister I wish I could have had growing up,"_ Luna said before leaving the room. Leigh had nearly cried again when she heard those words. Her heart swelled with happiness_._

_"Get stronger. Those words keep popping up in my head," _Leigh thought. Her head turned towards her closed curtains as if pretending she could see through them. She sighed and looked down into her lap as she contemplated going to the kitchen for something to eat.

"_But the truth is I just wasn't trying. I wasn't taking my fight against Bellatrix seriously, so I caused Luna distress and everyone else to worry too. Even Ichigo's friends were willing to help."_

_**Flashback**_

Leigh looked down at her bed inside her parents old room. Laying upon the bed was the Elder wand. As of yet, she hasn't had a chance to get hide the wand, but just an hour before she, Luna, and Minerva were going to leave for Japan she had to think of something to do so no one would be able to become this wand's master. Not that they would be able to anyway. They would have to find her first and defeat her.

She pulled one end of the bed to the side and pulled a lose floorboard from its hinges. She found a nice dark empty space under the floorboards that would be the perfect space to hide the nicely shaped piece of wood. She placed the wand inside and put the board back in place. She adjusted the bed back into place and put a notice-me-not spell on the floorboard, hoping that it would be effective for quite sometime until someone stronger than her came along and challenged her for the wand, but then again, the whole purpose was that no one else would be in control of the wand.

She stood up after placing the bed back into place and continued on finishing her packing. She didn't have much to pack due to her limited clothing choices, but she had several books that needed space to fill out in her trunk. It was a good thing Minerva taught her the space enhancer spell, so she would be able to do just that.

**End Flashback**

_"I could have used the Elder wand," _She thought. "No, I can't get into that. It's no use dwelling on what could have happened."

The truth was, as much as she didn't want to use the unbeatable wand, she couldn't seem to get rid of it. The strange thing she never mentioned was that when they arrived at their new house and unpacked her luggage, she opened her trunk and found the wand laying innocent next to her phoenix core wand. To say she was surprised was an understatement.

Leigh stepped out of bed after placing her oval-shaped glasses onto her face. She grabbed the Elder wand and went into the bathroom to test something. She first stood in front of the sink and unplugged the drain. She dropped the wand down the drain. While someone like Snape would call her reckless and stupid for disposing a wand in this fashion, she called it creative. She turned on the water on high pressure to force the wand down faster.

However, at the corner of her eye there was a thin object lying on a soft black towel that sat by the sink. She turned her head. It was the Elder wand.

"You are quite persistent," Leigh said, eye narrowed.

She turned towards the toilet and once again thought of Snape and his look of disgust at what she was about to do, but then again, it would probably change to intrigue at the fact that the wand came back to her from dropping it down a sink. She dropped the wand and flushed it down the toilet. She turned her head back to the black towel and as she expected, the wand was back, as clean and dry as it was before dropping it into the water.

"There's no getting rid of you, is there?"

She rolled her eyes heavenwards as she realized she was talking to an inanimate object. "Great another reason to call me crazy. I hope I never did this with my other wand." She went back into her room and placed the Elder wand next to her own.

"It's a good thing I kept a few of Fred and George's fake wands with me otherwise I'd know longer have my first wand," She said picking up the phoenix cored wand. She ran her hand up and down the sides of the wand subconsciously.

She sighed when she looked back down at the Elder wand.

"Alright, I'll stop rejecting you, but I'm not replacing my first wand just for you," Leigh decided.

She flopped down onto her bed.

"Great, now I'm talking to both wands like they're human. If Ron and Snape were here, they'd call me crazy without holding back. Hermione would be a little wigged, but she'd be polite enough not to say anything. Dumbledore would have his usual twinkling eyes and smiling at me in amusement. Well, too late to change that I suppose."

Leigh closed her eyes. She really missed them, even the slime ball Snape and his charming sneers.

Her stomach growled in hunger. She looked at the clock to see the time. It was 11:30.

"I guess it's a good time to start lunch."

***

It was the third day of the week of Leigh's mini-vacation. So far, she was a little bit bored. She tapped her foot to the classical music Minerva had on, but she wasn't really listening to it, since her feet wasn't tapping on the right beats. She actually wished she had a book to read. It wasn't that she hated reading, quite the contrary, but it was just she had a hard time getting into text books, unless they were about Defense Against the Dark Arts. She didn't mind reading those kinds. Transfiguration and charms were fine mostly because her parents were good at the subjects, but potions on the other hand...

"Why aren't you in bed? You're supposed to be relaxing," Minerva said with a face of that spoke of reprimanding.

"I thought coming here was supposed to be the relaxer."

"Yes, but not if you're not doing it right."

Leigh's eye twitched and her face grew a look of disbelief.

"N-not doing it right, you say?" She asked incredulously. "Doesn't it depend upon the person to decide what's relaxing and what's not?"

"When it comes to you, of course not," Minerva answered teasingly, but her face remained perfectly normal, so it was hard for Leigh to tell.

Leigh's eye twitched again. A small vein bulged on her forehead. SHe tried not to feel too insulted by that remark as she found a sudden interest in her lap. She snickered to herself.

"But I thought you hated Gryffindors who are lazy."

"Of course. That hasn't changed even if I'm not your Hogwarts teacher anymore."

Leigh rose an eyebrow waiting for her to continue.

"Which is why I have something for you since you're having trouble entertaining yourself while you rest," Minerva said handing a book to her.

She looked at the cover with a slight frown. It was a potions book? WHY!? "Great, more work," was the first thought that came to mind when she opened to the cover page. Inside the cover page was a beautiful scroll. When she read the inscription inside she looked back at the cover in disbelief.

**To Leigh Potter:  
"May this book serve you well."  
Love Dad and Padfoot**

It was then that she noticed that the cover of the book was fake and took it off to see the very much real title of the book.

**Animagi  
By:  
****James Potter & Sirius Black**

A big smile appeared on her face"I can't believe this! When did they... Why didn't Sirius tell me about this? How did you get this?" Leigh asked in one breath.

"I found it in Albus's office before we left for good. Now, I'm going to the store. We're running low on groceries. Enjoy your reading," She said leaving the room.

She smiled happily and managed to allow a few tears to fall. She wiped them away and turned to the first official page of the text. Hours passed away as she became completely absorbed in the book. She barely acknowledged the fact when Minerva returned with arm fills of baggage. Minerva didn't bother to interrupt her anyway. Leigh knew that her father and Sirius were smart, but some of the stuff they discovered together to make animagus magic easier to understand kind of reminded her when she had Snape's old potions book, "The Half-Blood Prince." In the end, it only caused her problems, but it was damn helpful when it came to the actual potions class. As she read through the book she wondered if those two were hiding their intelligence at times because this book was pure genius to anyone wanting to become an animagus. For some points in particular it talked about ways to properly relax your muscles, and guiding magic into your bones so it wouldn't hurt when shifting into animagus form. It also said that beginners should get into a position you'd generally find the specific animal the learner was trying to turn into, so it would help ease irritation. The last piece of advice given is for beginners to not bei in animal form for too long lest they accidently forget they are originally human if they don't have strong mind control.

"_I think I'll give this a try now,_" Leigh thought excitedly. "Okay then..." She closed the curtains so no muggles would be able to catch a glance of her becoming an animal. When everything was ready, she concentrated on everything she read from her dad and godfather's book and recited the spell that would turn her into the beautiful black and red fox she sees in her mind.

* * *

A/N. unedited. I promise to fix any grammar mistakes later. ^.^ thanks for reading.

Next chapter summary: Ichigo's at school. More shinigami/hollow action, and a new visitor


	8. Mini Vacation Part 2

A/N. New Chapter.

Hi!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for reading and reviewing this far. I can't wait for you to read the chapter and give me more reviews. I'm looking forward to it. O.O

"Dialogue"

"_Thoughts_"

**"Note writing"**

**_"Ichigo's hollow talk"_**

Chapter 8

* * *

Ichigo sat back in his chair lazily listening to the teacher's lecture. As he brought his pen down to jot down a few important notes that Mizuno-sensei mentioned would be on the next test, his thoughts wandered off to Leigh's well being.

As he carried her home, he couldn't help but notice how small her body really was; the way her head leaned against his shoulder when she gave up trying to convince him to let her walk on her own after leaving the shop. Her arms had wrapped around his shoulders to support herself. He'd swallowed air multiple times to calm his breathing when he felt her breath against his neck. Not only did Leigh feel nice in his arms as he carried her home, but she also smelled beautifully of vanilla.

He leaned forward covering his face in his hand with a soft groan. He really hoped he wasn't turning red in front of everyone.

***

Sitting in the desk to the right of Ichigo's was his friend Asano Keigo. He was humming a show tune in his mind as he doodled on his "notes" while thinking about what he would do this coming weekend. It would have nothing to do with school or homework, as always. He also hoped to avoid his crazy sister and getting punched by her multiple times a day. One day he hoped to develop self-actualization and learn to properly stand up to her like a "real man."

As he was about to pass a note to Ichigo and ask if he wanted to hang out this weekend, he noticed that his friend seemed to be in a bit of a daze. His eyes were glazed over, which told Keigo that his friend's mind was in another world entirely. However, that was nothing new with Ichigo. He then heard a small noise come from the orange-haired teen. He looked around to see if anyone noticed the noise. No one else was looking so he figured that he was the only one to hear. He turned back to Ichigo's face again and noticed that as his friend leaned over his desk, there was a blotch of red smothering his face.

His first reaction was to think that Ichigo was sick.

_"But that's impossible. Ichigo never get's sick, even on the few days he isn't in school,"_ Keigo thought suspiciously.

A note was thrown on his desk. Keigo picked it up and read it.

**"Oi, Keigo. What are you thinking so intently about? I have a high suspicion it's not about the lesson, so spill it." **

It was from Mizuiro. He replied: **"There's something strange going on with Ichigo."**

**"When isn't there something going on with that guy?"**

**"It's different this time. His face is completely red. Have you seen it?"**

**"Well, Asano-san, seeing as how I sit two seats behind him, unlike you who's right next to him, no I have not seen his face. However... ARE YOU SERIOUS!? IT'S RED! How red would you say?"**

**"It's red yes, but it's not a 'I'm sick' red 'cause he's never sick, you know? By the way, STOP BEING SO FORMAL WITH ME!"**

**"Then stop acting like an idiot. I-I think I may have a clue, but why don't you ask and make sure he's really okay. Make it quick, I think Mizuno-sensei is getting suspicious."**

***

Ichigo shook his head discreetly to try and clear his mind of Leigh. Her lack of presence at school was starting to dawn on him. Suddenly, he wished he had her cell phone number so he could call or text her to make sure she was doing alright.

_"No, baka. She's fine, she's fine. She's must be resting. That's a good idea after everything..."_

"PSSST!" Ichigo heard.

"PSSST! Oi Ichigo," Keigo said. Ichigo turned his head.

"What?" He whispered back quickly.

"Are you alright?" Keigo asked.

"Yeah. What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked confused.

"I saw your face turn a little red," Keigo answered.

Ichigo gave a mental jerk. "_Damn it! Trust Keigo to notice something like that. Now what am I going to say to that baka?_" He thought irritated.

**_"Tell the idiot human, you have a cru~ush," _Ichigo's inner hollow sang.**

_"Oh, shut up already. You do not help in the least bit," _Ichigo retorted.

**_"Yes I can. It's quite easy. First, ya ask her out. Second hug her, then kiss her. Finally when you've got her wrapped up in your arms and she's swoonin' over ya, then ya can push her down to your bed and-"_**

"SHUT UP!" His face completely turned tomato red.

The class turned to Ichigo. Damn, he said that out loud, didn't he?

"What was that Kurosaki-san? Do you have something good to say to the class?" Mizuno-sensei asked sharply.

A small beep went off in his pocket. It was the skull he kept with him to change into his shinigami form. There were hollows in town.

_"Ugh. Thank you for small mercies. Heh, I never thought I'd say that about hollows,_" He thought standing up.

"I-I HAVE TO USE THE RESTROOM!" Ichgo shouted the first thing he could think of running out the room.

***

**"As expected Asano-san. Ichigo has a crush, and I think it might be on Potter-san," **Mizuiro wrote to Keigo.

"NANI!" Keigo yelled in shock.

"_Baka__,_" came from the thoughts of Mizuiro and Ishida Uryu, who sat two seats to the left of Ichigo.

"Asano-san!"

"Hai!"

"Detention! Don't disrupt the class again," Mizuno-sensei snapped.

"What!? That's so unfair. Ichigo shouted 'shut up,' and completely ditched class. How come he doesn't get detention?" Keigo whined.

"Because Kurosaki-san doesn't fail his exams Asano-san," Mizuno-san retorted.

"This world is so unfair," Keigo muttered with his head bowed, a dark depressed cloud hovering around his head.

***

Not two minutes later Ichigo could sense Chad and Orihime's reiatsu following his own as they searched for the rogue hollows. The high pitched screech of a hollow alerted Ichigo of one nearby. He shunpoed over to the soul-eating creature, drew his massive zanpakuto, and slashed the creature. He watched as he saw the creature screech in pain as blood splattered the ground. The hollow disappeared in it's usual fashion to the Soul Society, where it's soul would be purified.

However, It wasn't as over as he thought. He turned when he heard another sound of a hollow, but it wasn't alone. Standing opposite of the hollow was a black with red fox growling at the hollow. The fox whipped one of multiple tails and slashed the hollow across its mask. A shriek of pain came from the hollow and it became angry and frustrated. The hollow charged the fox, it's mouth opening with a red beam gathering in it's mouth.

"Cero!"

When Ichigo realized what was going to happen, he hurried to the fox's side and cut the cero so the fox wouldn't be hit. He rose the zanpakuto above his head and sharply brought it down to get rid of the hollow.

Ichigo turned around. "What in the world..." He trailed off. He'd never seen a fox fight off a hollow. Not to mention, the fox didn't look like a real fox. It was larger than a normal one, not only that, but it also had nine tails.

He stared into the pure emerald green eyes. He couldn't help but think they looked just like jewels. The fox stared back. It made the first move towards Ichigo. He tensed. Even though the fox was fighting against the hollow, there was still a chance...

The fox seemed to sense his apprehension because it stopped right away. It tilted it's furry black head to the side as if trying to think of what to do. The mood gave a sudden shift from tension to playfulness? Ichigo gave a confused look when the fox jumped back a foot and placed its head on its feet in a bow. The jeweled eyes looked to be sparkling with mischief. The nine tails waved unthreateningly in the wind.

Ichigo relaxed and sighed with relief as he reattached his zanpakuto to his back when he realized the fox had no intention of attacking him.

The fox looked up into his eyes and walked up slowly to him. When the fox was just in front of him, he notice that the dark head went just above his waist. The fox nuzzled gently into Ichigo's stomach.

"Well," Ichigo began. "Um... nice to meet you. You are a... girl?" he asked slowly.

Emerald eyes sparkled in amusement and nodded in confirmation.

She took a step back from him to give herself some room. The last thing he expected was for the beautiful fox to start changing.

***

Leigh felt adrenaline rush through her as she stood in front of a mirror she conjured and admired her reflection. It was as if she were still in her dream when she saw the lovely fox for the first time, and now she literally was the fox. Red tipped tails swished lazily to the cool air conditioner. Sleek black fur shined in the light.

She turned around and headed to the kitchen and sat down next to Minerva. She looked up into the elder lady's eyes and summoned the best puppy-dog-slash-fox cute eyes she could muster.

Minerva sighed catching her plea.

"Oh alright. You're small enough so you should be able to sneak away from anyone easily, so don't let anyone see your form. You have one-half hour, then you need to either come back home, or return to your human form before you give into your fox instincts, understand?"

Leigh yipped in delight and understanding. She sprang to the door and gently opened it by curling a tail around the knob and twisted it open. She peaked her head out the door to make sure no one was around to see an unusual animal dash out the house which is what she did when she found that no one was around. She sped and scrunched up behind tree after tree just for extra security.

She hurried as fast she could to the school to get her painting. When she arrived to she picked up her painting of the candy store background, and placed it in her pocket after shrinking it. She wanted to finish the painting as soon as possible. There was much to discuss with Dumbledore and she didn't feel like waiting until her week was up to finish it. She returned to her fox form and rushed out of school, so no one would see her.

Not that it did much good anyway...

Her fur stood up on end when she felt the electric sensation flow through her body. It was a familiar feeling, one that was not easily forgotten. Leigh looked to the sky and just like last time, it ripped apart like a mouth.

_"That thing is back. What did Ichigo call it... a hollow? It looks different this time._"

The masked creature sped to the ground faster than she could think of anything else. She turned around because the next thing she realized was that the hollow was right behind her.

It shrieked. Standing right next to the creature, made her realize that this was the most retched feeling ever. It smelled like death. She could see the skull mask open wide to let out another shriek. She turned around and ran away from the creature. Not knowing what to do, that was the first thing she could think.

The bloody giant creature decided to follow her. Leigh was able to pick up a few shrieks and realized that a few of them were words.

"Eat souls. So hungry."

_"It eats souls? That sounds just like a dementor. However, the feeling I get from the hollows feels much worse then the freezing cold I feel around dementors._"

Apparently, the hollow decided to take it's chances and thought it would jump on her. Or perhaps she should have said tried to jump on her. Leigh dodged the jump. Thankfully, her fluffy tails were just long and hard enough to the hollow that she managed to knock it away from herself.

Leigh crouched low and growled angry. It tried again.

"_Bloody thing. Leave me alone. I should turn back and set my patronis on it. That should make it leave me alone._"

However, just as she was going to think the spell that would return her to human form, there was a shriek from the hollow again. She saw Ichigo in front of her poised with his giant weapon in at the ready. He flicked the hollow's blood off as he watched the hollow disintegrate into nothing.

"_Wow, that was cool. He destroyed the hollow so easily._"

She watched him calmly and noticed that he was returning her gaze. She felt herself grow hot. "_Uh... oh man, please don't let this fur show that I'm blushing!_"

She placed a paw forward. She noticed his tension. She gave a small mental smirk and snickered to herself. "_He must think I'm a threat too from how tense he looks. I should calm him down._"

The fox bowed down in a playful manner. Her tails waved gently. When she noticed Ichigo begin to relax she stood back to her regular position. She noticed the clothing he was wearing. They were his black robes she noticed when he was in her mind. She would definitely ask what he was when she returned to normal.

She stepped towards him slowly to give him time to step away if he wanted, but proceeded forward when he didn't object. She walked until she was close enough to touch him. She nuzzled him gently and hoped that managed to calm him more. She heard him speak.

_"_Well," He said. "Uh... nice to meet you." Leigh smiled to herself.

"You are a girl?" Ichigo asked.

_"Silly, silly boy."_ Leigh snickered to herself, but nodded her reply to him. Leigh wanted to step forward and nuzzle him again, but realized that she hadn't kept track of the time.

_"Oh well, I'll put him out of his misery."_

She returned to her human self and also saw the shocked expression on Ichigo's face when he saw her transform.

"Hello." She waved, surprisingly chipper.

"Leigh," Ichgio said blinking. "H-how did you...?"

"It's magic called animagus. I can turn into an animal," she replied.

"Just like Yoruichi," He said offhandedly. "However..."

"However what?" Leigh asked confused.

"Thank goodness you still have your clothes on," Ichigo admitted looking away.

Leigh froze when she heard the words from his mouth. She blinked once, and again trying to process what the boy in front of her just said. She felt her face heat up like an oven.

"Yes, thank goodness for that." She said calming down. "But uh... just out of curiosity..."

Ichigo turned to face her again.

She smirked trying to contain the irritated feeling from bursting out in her expression, via her veins. Her face came close to his. "Why would I not have kept my clothing?"

"W-Well uh... I mean... It's just," Ichigo stuttered.

Leigh looked closely at Ichigo's face before turning her head away and laugh into her hand to muffle the sound. He was blushing. It wasn't much, but his cheeks were turning red in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it. I think I can understand what must have happened. We should let that issue go," Leigh said turning back to him.

Ichigo sighed in relief. "Good to hear." He looked down at her face. "By the way,"

"Hm?"

"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I am."

"It doesn't look like it to me."

"Look," She gestured to herself. "I'm all healed up save for a few scars here and there. I don't know what else I can do. I don't feel tired, and I was getting kind of bored just lying around." "_I was also starting to miss seeing you."_

"Fine, if you say so. But how are you really feeling besides physically?"

Leigh bit her lip trying to find an answer. "I'm still- I'm still a little out of shape, but I just really needed some fresh air right now," She replied surprised by her own honesty. She couldn't bring it in herself to lie to him.

Ichigo hummed in response. He placed a hand on her head and gently pat her.

"Come with me I want to show you something."

"Sure," Leigh replied following curiously.

Ten minutes later they arrived at Ichigo's destination. He stopped at a river and sat in the grass. He motioned for her to join him and she did. She sat down and leaned back on her hands as they sat quietly. She waited for him to speak first.

"This is the place where my mother died."

Leigh looked up wide-eyed in slight shock. He'd trusted her enough to show her where the most precious person in his life passed on. Her eyes softened touched by the feeling he was passing onto her.

She smiled.

"Hey, Ichigo."

"Yo."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Understanding."

Ichigo hummed in acknowledgement and replied, "There's nothing to be thanked for."

"I've been wondering something," Leigh trailed off.

"What do you want to know?" Ichigo asked in response.

"Just out of curiosity, what do those robes you wear signify?" Leigh finally let her curiosity be voiced.

"Oh, right I haven't told you yet. These mean I'm a shinigami," He replied easily.

Leigh thought about the meaning of shinigami for a moment. "_Shinigami... shinigami... I think that means death god right? As in Gods of Death!? Grim Reapers? That's really something._"

Realization suddenly struck her, and boy did it striker her hard in the gut. "Whoa. That's quite an achievement. You've definitely got me beat with my being a witch and all."

"Actually, I haven't been one for very long. I was turned into one from a good friend of mine."

"Wow, so theirs more shinigami."

"Yeah, there's a whole civilization of them, just like yours and magic right?"

She nodded in confirmation.

"Well, since you can see me, I'm sure you'll be able to meet others too."

Leigh's cell phone buzzed. It was a text message from Luna stating: **Hey get home. There's a visitor.**

"It's from Luna," Leigh said. "It seems someone's came over to the house. I wonder who it is."

"Go check it out. I'll meet you on the balcony tonight," Ichigo responded.

**"On my way. Who's our visitor?"** Leigh sent back.

"I'll see you later then." Leigh waved goodbye.

*** At Home

Leigh walked into the living room wondering who came for a visit. She stopped short in shock when she realized she was seeing Mrs. Tonks sitting across from Minerva on the enchanted rocking chair with Luna sitting on the plush chair. On the elderly lady's lap was the cutest baby she'd ever had the pleasure of seeing. Remembering Remus' pictures before the final battle, she had to say, the pictures do not compare to seeing the real baby. She had to contain herself the best she could to not squeal at the sweet image that baby Teddy brought to the floor.

"Mrs. Tonks, what are you doing here?" Leigh asked surprised. Even more shocked she also asked, "Wait a minute. How do you even know where I live?"

"Don't worry dear, I haven't said anything to anyone," She replied.

"Relax Leigh. I told her where we lived in case you would want to see your godson again," Minerva said placatingly.

"Calm down Leigh. She's the only person who knows where we live. She won't say anything," Luna replied for reassurance. Leigh nodded in relief, but that didn't stop the happiness that eroded into her heart as she saw the little one in Mrs. Tonks arms.

"Now, the reason I'm here," She began. "I'm afraid I'm getting far too old to keep up with the little tyke. I need someone younger who will be willing to take care of him, so I thought his godmother would be the best option. Also, you're the only one I would trust with him outside everyone else."

Leigh flushed in happiness. "Can I hold him?"

"Of course, you're his godmother after all," Mrs. Tonks admonished gently. She transfered Teddy into Leigh's arms and helped her hold him correctly.

"What will you do now?" Luna asked turning back to Mrs. Tonks. She smiled gently at the happiness that was radiating from Leigh.

"I would greatly like to take care of Teddy, but as I said, I'm getting to old, so I think I'll just return home and relax as much as I can."

"You'll still visit Teddy right? I don't want you to think you aren't allowed to see him again. You are more directly his family than I am," Leigh said worriedly.

"That's a given dear. I know you wouldn't keep him away from me. Take care of him now," Mrs. Tonks responded with a smile.

"Would you like to stay the night and rest up?" Minerva offered. "You can stay as long as you need."

"Thank you. I'll just stay the night, then I'll need to return home." Mrs. Tonks responded appreciatively.

Luna and Minerva made a room for Mrs. Tonks and furnished it with a lovely green floral pattern. A bed was in the center of the room with a book case filled with a variety of genres. Mrs. Tonks said goodnight to everyone after dinner was eaten. Leigh wanted to be the one to tuck Teddy into bed, so she was the first to volunteer.

Leigh lent down and cooed at the adorable green eyes that stared back up at her. She wrapped the blanket around the small body and kissed his forehead good night. She waited until Teddy steadily began to fall asleep before leaving the room. She left the door open enough to keep the hallway light out, but didn't shut it completely.

Finally, she left to go meet Ichigo at the balcony.

* * *

A/N. Okay, so Leigh realizes some of the magnitude of Ichigo being a shinigami, but not quite all of it. However, that's not to say that Leigh will be a weakling compared to him. There will be more to come when it comes to that.

Thanks for reading/ review please... ^.^ We authors love them.

Next Chapter: Mini Vacation part 3: Ichigo stays home from school, more specifically to spend time with Leigh. He meets the new visitor and gets a huge surprise from Teddy.


	9. Mini Vacation Part 3

A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for reading and reviewing so far. I hope you're enjoying my story and even more as you continue to read it. So once again, thanks. *SMILES* The moment I, and hopefully you have been waiting for is going to happen in this chapter. *cheers*

Chapter 9 Mini Vacation Part 3 (FINAL PART/ You can thank Little Teddy for this part ^_^ hehe. Read on and you'll see why)

* * *

Two Days Later*

Luna lay awake in bed during the late hour of the night. Things were finally going positively for the makeshift family. More specifically Leigh. Everything Luna has seen between Leigh and Ichigo has come to pass. Luna snickered. Later today, Ichigo was about to receive an interesting surprise from little Teddy.

'_It will be interesting to see that, but how will I make sure Leigh doesn't notice my presence? Sneaking up on her is not so easy anymore like it was in Hogwarts. Perhaps I'll simply take a peak during school, instead of physically going home,_' Luna thought fondly. _'Well, let's see what happens later.'_

Luna closed her eyes drifting to sleep.

***

Leigh opened her eyes when she thought she heard a noise in her sleep. Her mind was hazy from tiredness, so it was difficult to destinguish between her dream and reality.

The sound came again.

'_So the noise was real,'_ Leigh thought. The noise came one more time before she realized where the noise was coming from.

"Teddy," Leigh shot out of bed and went to Teddy's room.

Leigh gently picked Teddy from the crib and held him until he calmed down.

"It's alright Teddy. I'm here." The baby stopped crying. The green eyed baby did his best to communicate what he wanted.

"What is it? Are you hungry?" Leigh guessed. With a happy gurgling noise, Leigh was right. She went to the kitchen and brought out the baby bag Mrs. Tonks left in the kitchen. Leigh found that this 'bag' has some pretty amazing attributes. For one, there was an unlimited amount of baby food that would replenish and change according to Teddy's age until he was old enough to eat 'normal' food.

Leigh took out three different selections of food for Teddy.

"Alright, Teddy bear, pick which one you want because this is your food and I really hadn't planned on having any to try for you," Leigh commented amused.

The choices were peas, fruit, or carrots. Teddy picked the fruit.

"Smart baby I see, but just so you know, I'm not going to let you avoid the veggies too often," She said.

Once Teddy was finished eating it was six in the morning. "About the time Ichigo should be getting ready for school," Leigh murmured to herself. She shook her head. "What am I talking about? That doesn't matter, I better make sure Luna doesn't sleep in again like she tried to yesterday."

"No need I'm up, I'm up," Luna said. Having just got out of bed her long blonde hair was in disarray. With an easy swish of the wand, her hair was back to normal.

"Just so you know, Minerva will be out in town for most of the day," Luna said.

Leigh looked at Luna with a raised eyebrow. That sudden statement made her think Luna was plotting something.

"Okay? Nice to know. Why do you say that?" Leigh asked.

Luna stood up from her chair and gave Teddy a peck on the forehead. "Do you want to introduce Teddy to Ichigo? I think he might be planning to stay home today," She said before skipping up the stairs.

"You think, huh?" She sighed. '_You've been watching again,' _Leigh thought rolling her eyes.

_'But I wonder why he would want to ditch school.'_

"Oh well. Come on Teddy... oh," She trailed off suddenly. "It smells like someone needs a diaper change and a bath."

When Teddy was given both he smelled delightful again. An hour later Luna left for school with cute pigtails in her hair and her book bag over her shoulder.

"Have fun today," Luna giggled skipping out the door.

There was a knock at the door ten minutes later. She placed Teddy on the couch with a charm to make sure he wouldn't fall and hurt himself before checking to see who was at the door.

"Yo." Ichigo greeted.

"Hey," She answered. "Oh um. Where are my manners? Come in." She stepped aside with the door open so he could step in.

Ichigo looked around and followed Leigh as she guided him through the hall into the living room. Everything was elegantly placed.

"This place looks..." Ichigo trailed off trying to find a word.

"We modeled the inside to look like Hogwarts, the magic school I used to attend, except less midieval. Seriously, you should see that castle, it's incredible, but some of the artifacts inside seem like time's gone backwards. Electricity doesn't work inside. I'm not sure if most of anyone there even knows what electricity is. You have no idea how difficult it is trying to explain electricity to pure bloods," Leigh rambled on.

"And why's that?"

"Because if they're into serious pure blood traditions they just look at you like you are mud on the bottom of their shoe."

"That's stupid."

"You got that right. Anyway, make yourself at home. Would you like anything to drink. There's coffee, water, milk, soda..."

"I'll take coffee thanks."

"Coming right up." Leigh went to the kitchen.

Ichigo settled down on the plush chair across from the couch. He sighed. Okay, so he could admit that he had no intention of going to school today. Lately he's been feeling the urge to see Leigh, but with her taking the week off a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach just wouldn't leave him alone all day yesterday. So today Ichigo made a choice to stay with Leigh.

_"I know I can always see her after school, but... ARGH, I can't believe I'm thinking this,"_ He thought leaning into his hand against the arm rest.

That's when Teddy thought it time to make his presence known to the orange-haired person sitting across from him.

"AH!" Teddy squealed.

Ichigo looked up startled from his position and turned towards the noise. He didn't have a clue why he hadn't noticed the little life sitting across from him on the couch, but there it was, a baby.

"A baby? When did you get there?" Ichigo stood from his spot on the chair and slowly made his way to the couch.

"I put Teddy there before I answered the door and let you inside," Leigh answered from the doorway. She handed him his Coffee and sat next to Teddy on the couch sipping her own. She handed Teddy a bottle of milk to drink and sat hers on the coaster on the coffee table.

"Then Teddy is the visitor that Luna-san told you about."

"More like a permanent resident now than a simple visitor," Leigh amended.

"How come you didn't tell me sooner?"

"I wanted you to meet him face-to-face."

Ichigo nodded in acceptance.

Ichigo got a close look at Teddy. His hair was messy and black. He also had big green eyes that reminded him remarkably of Leigh's. He frowned when a thought came to him. "Is Teddy- I mean, it wouldn't bother me if he was," He said quickly. "Is he your son?"

Leigh rose a mildly shocked eyebrow and gave a small snicker. "No, no, no. He's not my son exactly, but I certainly wouldn't mind if he was."

"Exactly?"

"Well, if I put in technical terms, Teddy is my godson."

"Oh. You're godson," Ichigo said slowly. He turned away from Leigh mentally hitting himself for coming to the wrong conclusion, but he couldn't deny the relief that swelled in his gut after hearing Teddy was her godson.

"Where are his parents?" He asked.

She leaned heavily against the couch. They'd been killed in the war.

"Nymphadora and Remus died during the war so Teddy could live freely without fear."

Ichigo closed his mouth at the answer and let the matter drop, which Leigh was grateful for.

Teddy dropped the bottle onto the couch when he was finished and crawled into Leigh's lap. She brought out her wand from her pocket and summoned a cloth to set on her shoulder remember what Mrs. Tonks said about baby dribble when they needed to be burped. when she was finished patting his back she kept him on her lap and summoned a toy to occupy him with.

"Ichigo," He looked up at her from his position on the floor. He'd settled himself there when he watched Leigh with Teddy.

"Hmm." He answered.

"What made you ask if Teddy was my son?" Leigh asked curiously.

There was only one obvious answer he could come up with. "Well, Teddy looks just like you."

Leigh looked down at Teddy smiling fondly.

"Aw yes, so he does, doesn't he. His abilities are certainly flourishing well. He gets it from his mother. I guess I can't help if he wants to copy the way I look in some way," She said proudly.

"Abilities?" Ichigo asked confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Leigh smiled and gestured for Ichigo to sit on the couch next to her, so he did. Leigh then turned Teddy around to have him facing Ichigo to let the baby get a closer look at him.

The baby looked up when he felt himself being moved. Innocent green eyes looked up into dark brown eyes, and dark brown eyes looked down in his. Teddy looked up slightly and gave a sweet, happy baby noise before shifting.

Ichigo's eyes widened. Teddy's hair turned from midnight black like his godmother's to an Orange hair color as bright as Ichigo's. Another part of Teddy that changed was his eyes turning from emeralds to dark brown. Ichigo gaped, lost for words at the close resemblance the baby came to him, or more specifically to his younger self.

Leigh fell to the back of the couch laughing harder than she'd ever laughed in a long time. She couldn't contain it. The look on Ichigo's face was a pure classic imitation of a fish out of water. It was better than any prank she ever pulled on those rare occasions.

"HA HA HA AH HA!" Leigh continued clutching her body as a pleasant pain entered her side.

It took Ichigo five minutes to revived from his stupefied state. His eye twitched when he came to hear Leigh's laughter

Ichigo looked back down at Teddy for one more glance just to make sure he really was seeing a good copy of his younger self. However this time something changed when he looked into Teddy's eyes. They were no longer brown but returned to there green as they were previously but his hair was still the same orange.

"He-He-He looks like..."

To say the least Ichigo was turned to stone.

Leigh calmed down from her intense laughter because she needed to catch her breathing before she fainted from lack of air. She turned to the front of the couch and saw Ichigo standing as stiff as a bored. She raised her hand to his shoulder with a look of concern.

"Um. Ichigo are you okay?"

_"Maybe I should have told him about Teddy's ability before I sprang it on him,"_ Leigh contemplated.

Leigh turned towards Teddy to complement on a job well done when she noticed that he didn't completely look like Ichigo anymore.

"Whoa, he looks- he looks like he could be..." Leigh couldn't finish her sentence either. But the words were in her mind. Her face flushed bright red at the thought.

_"Ichigo's messy orange hair and my green eyes. He-He looks like he could be..." _Leigh blushed deeper. _"... our son!"_

Teddy yawned letting Leigh know of his exhaustion. Ichigo had sat down on the couch still stunned by the sight. Leigh, still with a red face, noticed Teddy's yawn and went to pick him up and headed towards the baby's room.

"Um~ I'l be right back. I'm going to put Teddy down for his nap," She said quickly before heading up.

Ichigo nodded, not letting a word out due to the fact that he didn't know what was about to blurt out of his mouth if he were to open it. He covered a hand to his mouth and his bangs covered his eyes as he did his best to calm his thoughts, not to mention his heart.

Thinking about Teddy's strange talent of being able to change his appearance was definitely an eye opener to the different workings of magic. While he didn't know much of Leigh's abilities, he could guess that like the shinigami and their different range of abilities, the same could be said for a magic users.

_"Seeing Teddy with my hair and eyes was actually pretty cool, I'll admit. When he changed his eye color again... It's like for a second there, I saw him in a different light."_ He swallowed air.

A squeak sound came from the stairs announcing Leigh's return. She returned to her seat next to him on the couch. He side-glanced at her and noticed that she was biting her lip anxiously. Leigh turned away deciding to pay very close attention to a fine edge of a design on the face that sat next to the side table, very much aware of Ichigo's eyes on her.

_"Is he mad or something? I-I don't know. I have to say something. This silence is awkward enough,"_ She thought. She gave a mental sigh. Well here goes.

"Well, that was his little ability. He would be a Metamorphmagus if I am to give you a proper name for it. It means he can change his appearance at will. He's still young right now, so he can only change his hair and eye color, but when he gets older he should be able to do the rest." She turned her head forward, but Ichigo noticed that Leigh still wouldn't look him in the eye. He saw she had a pink tint on her cheeks.

"Um~" She started off.

"Leigh," Ichigo interrupted.

"I didn't expect that he'd turn his eyes back-"

"Leigh, look at me. It's okay."

"I mean, I hope I didn't embarrass you or anything."

"Well, it was certainly unexpected to see that change of appearance, but-"

"I hope you're not mad?"

"Why would I be?"

_"That's it I don't think I can hold back anymore,"_ Ichigo thought determined. He placed a hand on Leigh's chin and gently forced her to look him in the eye.

"I mean I hope you're not. It's my fault any-"

_"_Oh, shut up_,_" Ichigo said leaning in.

Leigh's eyes widened when she felt lips press against her own. He... was kissing her? This was her first kiss. She'd never really been interested in anyone at Hogwarts. For one thing, she was too concerned about Voldemort's existence to go searching for a romantic relationship. The only boy she really had a close relationship with was her best friend Ron, and he'd been in love with Hermione. She couldn't count on one hand how many times someone asked if she and Ron were "together," but all there was between the two was a sibling relationship. Three other boys she'd been in close contact with were Neville Longbottom, Cedric Diggory, and Draco Malfoy.

She could admit that Neville was sweet and they had a lot in common, such as there birthdays, but there was no spark, she probably would have thought of him as a cousin if she had to define a particular relationship with him. He was also the second candidate for the prophecy if Voldemort hadn't decided that she was more of a threat. Cedric Diggory, she could admit was handsome, but throughout her fourth year during the Triwizard Tournament she got to know him a little better. He was another sweet guy, but there was no spark. They merely helped one another out during the tournament. On a side note, Cedric ended up liking Cho Chang before Voldemort ordered Pettigrew to murder him in cold blood. Finally, there was Draco Malfoy. There was a relationship, but not a positive one. He was more of a rival at best and a jackass at worse. They both got each other into trouble whenever they could and fought whenever they found some good material to use against the other. Not to mention his father had been a follower of Voldemort at the time and Draco had completely worshipped his father's ideals. So, no. Even if she'd gotten someone as a boyfriend during Hogwarts years she wouldn't mind play-fighting with him, but not an all out feud over the purity of blood.

However, focussing on this new relationship with Kurosaki Ichigo, her next-door neighbor, there had been an instant spark when she first set eyes on him. She'd been confused at first, but seeing as how Ichigo initiated the kiss, she would say that he must have felt it too.

Ichigo was tensing nervously. She wasn't responding. Had he made a mistake? They got along well, but perhaps the only thing she wanted was friendship. He pulled away with an apology on his lips.

"Uh... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." He looked away nervously and to contain the sinking feeling in his stomach. He waited as calmly as he could for a reply, but none came. Instead a hand tugged on his sleeve.

"You... You didn't give me a chance," She didn't bother to finish her sentence. This time it was Leigh who leaned closer and kissed him. Ichigo sucked in breath as his heart rate became faster. It was a pleasant feeling. She pressed forward into him and felt heat gather under her cheeks when she felt him responding. She raised a hand to cup his jaw, making a vague mental note of how strong it felt. After a few minutes they released for a short breath, giving Leigh a chance to finish what she was going to say.

"Before, you didn't give me a chance to respond," She said.

"Oh, sorry," He breathed.

"It's okay," She responded watching his pale lips as he spoke.

They both leaned in together. Ichigo pulled her closer to him by her waist. Leigh put an arm around his neck and the other against his shoulder. She relaxed against the back of the couch as she enjoyed the sensation of their lips pressed together.

***

Luna's eyes shot wide open. While she should have been listening to her math sensei's lecture on the quadratic formula, she couldn't help but want to check up on Leigh and Ichigo to see how things were going. She mostly left them alone to give them their deserved privacy. However, in her defense she was a concerned "cousin" who wanted to make sure that Leigh was safe with Ichigo and that things were running smoothly between the two.

Now, she knew that Ichigo was going to get the surprise of his life besides being a shinigami, but this was a new level of surprise, even for Luna. However, that didn't mean it was bad. In fact it was the complete, 100 percent opposite on the scale of bad versus good. It was better than good, it was perfect. Luna wasn't sure how many more ways she could describe how good this new event was.

"YES! Now that's what I'm talking about!" She cried out loud triumphantly.

The class and sensei turned to Luna's disruption.

Luna froze.

_"Crap, I just said that out loud. I really have to watch for my own possible outcomes. I think I may get another detention and plus, I may have just turned myself into a weirdo here too."_

"Lovegood-san, may I ask what your exuberant shout was all about?" Lui-sensei asked expectantly waiting an answer.

"Yes, I... I see the reason why the quadratic formula is a good reason to solving these math problems sensei," Luna said cheerfully, attempting to lie cleverly through her teeth. She scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Lovegood-san," Lui-sensei said.

"Sensei?" She answered waiting for his reply.

"Come see me for detention during lunch," He said with a sigh.

"Hai sensei," Luna replied.

The thought of detention didn't drown Luna's exuberance for even a second. How could it, when she just saw the pair she's looking out for kissing.

_"Time to go hem those skirts for Leigh. I hoped this day would come, but how to do it without her noticing... That will be tricky, very tricky. Maybe I can convince Ichigo to distract her for me," _Luna thought smirking while stroking the invisible beard on her chin.

***

* * *

A/N: Hi, everyone. Hope you all liked the chapter. If you did, thank Teddy for his inspiration to me.

I 3 You! Please review. (It's supposed to be a heart)

Next Chapter: Hirako Shinji returns.


	10. Hirako Shinji Returns

A/N: Thanks for reading/reviewing. It's much appreciated. Hope I receive more. Okay, so for Luna's prank I'll probably only have her do one skirt, because technically Leigh won't be much of a skirt wearer except for school uniforms. Asano Keigo won't be making an appearance for a while, so I put him in this chapter one last time.

"Dialogue"

"_Thoughts_"

"**Hearing people talk from another room"**

**Chapter dedicated to: Okami Princess**.

Chapter 10. Shinji Hirako Returns. :3

**Ideas for chapter.**

* * *

The time school should have ended while Leigh was absent and Ichigo ditched came, and ten minutes later Luna came through the door. Luna had been kind of hoping to see her favorite person with the new boyfriend nestled together on the couch, but they weren't. She also expected that they wouldn't be since this was still a new for them, so of course they would want their privacy.

"Ah, thank goodness. Time to call Minerva to come back home," Luna said dialing the number on her cell phone.

***

Ichigo left Leigh's house and returned to his own. He entered his house staring off into space.

"MY FOOLISH SON! YOU'VE LEFT AN OPENING!" Isshin crowed triumphantly.

"Uh huh," was all Ichigo let out as he walked passed the kick aimed for his head and went to the kitchen.

Isshin watched his son enter the kitchen. This was not his usual reaction. He stopped to think a moment. Normally, his son would engage in his invitation to fight and try to defeat him ten-fold, but this time... nothing?

"_Something happened, but what?_" Isshin wondered. "Wait a minute," He realized. "He was carrying something."

He followed the boy into the kitchen graciously allowing his daughters to enter the room ahead of him. Karin and Yuzu were his precious daughters after all. Once in the room, there was also another thing Isshin noticed, Ichigo was sitting at his place at the dinner table with the items he was carrying spread out on the table. He was leaning with his elbow against the table-top and his knuckles under his jaw bone.

"Oh, Ichi-nii where did you get all this food?" Yuzu asked as she going to prepare dinner.

"They all seem to be your favorite foods too," Karin noticed.

Isshin looked around and also noticed the particular combinations of food. There were different sorts of blends with rice, fish, and even some English recipes. He heard Ichigo sigh.

"Where did you get this food? Whoever made this is a wonderful cook," Yuzu praised happily.

"That's what I'd like to know," Karin commented while digging in.

Isshin gathered some into his own plate and gave it a try. It was... It was... Something burst in his stomach. He felt like he was tasting Misaki's cooking all over again. The taste and distribution of flavor was exquisite. Isshin finally voiced his the repeated question to his son? This was not his son's cooking that's for sure.

"Where did you get this?"

Ichigo looked up as though he finally acknowledged the other three's existence.

"Oh, um... Leigh made it for me," Ichigo answered.

Ichigo's wording sparked another interest in Isshin, as always.

"Leigh? You mean the Potter girl?"

"Yes,"

"She let's you call her by her first name?"

"Yes,' was all he said again.

Isshin's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Ichigo sighed and stood from his chair and left his room. Issin turned and saw a side-view of his son. He noticed Ichigo's hand touching his mouth.

Isshin's eyes widened considerably at the implications of this small gesture. He looked at the answering machine for any messages, and there was one stating that Ichigo had missed the school day. Ichigo gave away so many clues that pointed to the obvious. Ditching class to spend time with Potter-san, walking around in a daze once he returned, and returning with food that Leigh made for _him._

Isshin launched himself out of his chair startling Karin and Yuzu.

"Misaki-chan, our son finally got himself a girlfriend!" Isshin shouted at the blown up portrait.

Karin spit her drink out all over her father's plate in shock, while Yuzu blushed at her father's words.

"Just when I thought we were actually having a normal family dinner," Karin grumbled irritatedly. However Yuzu giggled. "Isn't it exciting? Ichi-nii has a girlfriend!"

Karin sighed, "I suppose so. Maybe now, he won't be such a lump. Wait, no." She said remembering his dazed state. "He went from a lump to a baka."

"Be more supportive Karin-chan," Yuzu scolded.

"I never said I was against Ichi-nii and Potter together." Karin replied.

"Maybe we should call her Leigh-chan now."

"I suppose so, but it's not like there married you know."

"MARRIED!!!!" Isshin interjected. _"I-I must eavesdrop and make sure my stupid son's not doing anything naughty or suspicious," _He thought sneaking away blushing. He snickered as he thought of his son in such a position.

"Oyaji!" Karin interfered grabbing the back of her father's shirt.

"Daddy be nice," Yuzu said serving spoon pointed at her father.

"Wha- What did I do?" He whined. Yuzu-chan scolding him?

"You were going to eavesdrop on Ichi-nii, weren't you?" Karin said knowingly.

"But don't you want to know what he's up to?"

"Geez, no wonder you two fight all the time," Karin rolled her eyes.

"I-I just have to know!" Isshin escaped Karin's iron hold and ran up the stairs.

Karin rolled her eyes again. Yuzu looked down at her feet, finding them interesting.

"You want to know to, don't you," Karin said expectantly.

"YES!" She cried dashing away.

Karin groaned. "Fine, if Ichi-nii yells at you don't say I didn't warn you." She shouted up the stares. Seriously, was she the only one who respected her brothers privacy? But, then again... What kind of sister would she be if she didn't get into her brother's business?

Three ears pressed against Ichigo's door as Isshin, Karin, and Yuzu listened in on the conversation Ichigo and Potter, or rather Leigh were having.

***

"Did they like the food?"Leigh asked. She sounded close. Was she in the same room as him, the three in the hall wondered.

"They sang you praises," Ichigo replied amused.

"I'm glad they liked it," She said half laughing.

Ichigo noticed the tired glaze inside Leigh's eyes. "Time for bed?"

"Nearly. I still have a few things I need to do beforehand. I'll show you tomorrow after school."

He nodded, leaning forward the same time Leigh was. There lips pressed together in a slow kiss.

***

"Dad, they've stopped talking," Yuzu said.

"They probably went to sleep." Karin said walking away.

"NOT TOGETHER!?" Isshin yelled.

"NO, YOU DUMBASS!" Karin yelled blushing. She ran away not being able to stand her father's weirdness anymore tonight.

***

**"NO YOU DUMBASS!****" **Ichigo heard outside his door. It was Karin. A vein popped in annoyance. They wouldn't; not while he was trying be alone. He pulled away from the kiss he and Leigh were sharing, and looked towards his door that lead into the hallway.

**"But Leigh-chan's voice sounded close, then they stopped, so it's perfectly logical that they would be sleeping together." **Another vein popped on Ichigo's face, with an addition of a red tinge against his face. Leigh froze, turning bright red hearing the words.

Ichigo sighed and turned towards Leigh. He wished her goodnight after pecking her on the mouth. She replied the same way after closing her window.

_"Now I've got a bone to pick with that oyaji-baka! I swear, I'm gonna beat his ass. If only I could use Zangetsu to do it," _He growled mentally.

***

Leigh shut her window and pulled her curtains closed to change into her black, silk pajama bottoms and red tank top, so she could be comfortable. It was just as she said before. She had a few things to do, like tuck Teddy into bed. She had let him back out when he was well rested and Ichigo had gotten used to Teddy's new appearance.

"Teddy must really like Ichigo. His hair is still orange," She muttered tucking the blankets around Teddy. She left the room with the door open as per usual and headed down to the basement where she could finish her former headmaster's portrait.

With just a few more brush strokes the painting was finished and ready for Albus' appearance. Normally, she'd wait for it to dry the muggle way, but this time there was a pressing matter she needed to speak to him about.

She looked down at the charms book and found a spell that would bring Albus Dumbledore's image into the painting. When the spell was said, a shadow of sorts appeared on the canvas. It looked as though it were looking around confused. The shadow became a clearer silhouette of an old man with a long beard. She sighed in relief. Good, she did the spell right. The silhouette became clearer as the image came into focus.

"Hello," Leigh greeted her former Headmaster.

Professor Dumbledore looked around the background of his current surroundings. All around was the interior of a candy shop. Decorating the walls and shelves were all of his favorite sweets that he'd ever tasted.

"Why, Miss Potter, you've certainly honed your artistic skills, and your spell work for that matter," Dumbledore said eyes twinkling appreciatively.

"Thank you sir."

"There's no need for you to address me so formally. I think you've earned the right to call me Albus. Besides I'm not your headmaster anymore," He reminded.

"Right, Head- um- Albus. This will take some getting used to," She muttered embarrassed.

"How have you been my dear girl? You look cheerful."

Leigh looked down, hoping that a certain red color wasn't appearing on her cheeks.

"Yes, things have gotten pretty interesting here, but I'll tell you about them later," Leigh said regaining her composure.

"I look forward to it," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Any word from Mr. Weasley?"

Leigh's heart sank. She swallowed a lump in her throat. "No... no word from Ron." She whispered slowly. "How about on your end at headmaster's office?"

"Nothing since you left England."

"No one on your end can hear us speaking, right?"

"Do you mean the portraits? No of course not, nor any of the living. Why do you ask?"

Leigh's expression became solum, and Dumbledore noticed right away.

"Bellatrix Lestrange found me. I thought Mrs. Weasley killed her for trying to hurt Ginny, but I guess she escaped." Leigh said.

"Have you encountered her in a duel?"

"Yes, that's how I knew she was here. A snake even followed her here to warn me. Surprisingly enough, Luna told me the snake had been Lucius Malfoy."

"Perhaps not all of this generations' Malfoy's are bad."

"Perhaps, or he's just trying to get his job back by getting into my good graces," Leigh muttered irritated.

"I'm sorry?" Albus asked not hearing her.

"Un? Nothing, nothing." She shook her head. "Anyway, the reason I called you here tonight is because I'm confused about something."

Dumbledore smiled. "Should I ask you to elaborate, or will you continue on your own?"

Leigh smirked before continuing. Her expression became serious.

"Well, there's two things I'm confused about. One, no matter where I go, I can't seem to leave the room without a certain wand following me," She emphasized her meaning by opening her hand because the Elder wand appeared in it. No, this was not wandless magic summoning the wand. "No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get rid of it. Second, even when Bellatrix beat me, the wand returned to me. I thought if the person who possess the wand is defeated then it would no longer return to them."

Leigh winced at the displeased expression on his face. She had a feeling she knew what he was thinking.

"How did she defeat you? Did you even use your full power?"

Leigh bit her lip, but told the truth. Even while dead, the man seemed to know her well. "Well, I was, but I think some part of me just wanted to end it, until Ichigo arrived. No, do you mean that the reason it's still with me was because I wasn't trying my hardest?"

"Unfortunately, my knowledge of the wand is limited. I have never heard about this kind of behavior from the Elder Wand. I believe the wand should have abandoned you, yet it didn't. This is something to look into Leigh. Keep me informed on anything you find out for I am quite curious myself," Albus responded.

"I will," She promised. She took a deep breath.

"Now, before I reprimand you on intentionally trying to end your life by way of Bellatrix Lestrange, would you care to tell me who exactly is this 'Ichigo'?" His eyes twinkled.

Leigh blushed and couldn't hide it for anything.

_"Crap. Of course he would notice my slip, and mention it too," _She thought finding her feet interesting.

"Well, Miss Potter?" Dumbledore prompted eyes becoming twinkling like the stars.

"... W-well... he's..." Leigh stammered and turned a deeper red.

***

Leigh returned to her room feeling refreshed after taking a bath and returning to her pajamas again. She took a deep breath after climbing into her bed. Fate did not like to make things easy for her, did she?

_"Well, hollows, a boyfriend, and a mysterious wand that doesn't leave me alone for my phoenix wand. I think I smell the beginning of my newest headache. Now what do I do?"_ She thought. A new feeling entered her chest. It was frightening and exhilarating at the same time. A spark returned to Leigh's eyes, one that had not been there for the past few years.

_"Nah, don't worry about it. For now, just keep taking care of Teddy."_

She didn't even care about the fact that Luna had clearly done something to her clothing when she felt the blonde's magic signature at her closet (Luna's prank). She covered herself with blankets and allowed sleep to claim her.

***

**The next morning...**

"Oh come on Ichigo, let me go to school with you. I am so bored doing nothing every single day," Kon whined. "Besides you need a chaperone." He smirked. "Who knows what you'll get up to with the new onee-chan.

"You are _not_ coming with me because one: you're a pervert, two: what she and I do is none of your business, and three: she thinks you're a doll. That is going to stay that way, unless..." He squeezed the Lion's neck and growled. "... unless you'd like to get the stuffing beaten out of you by yet, another female because you nuzzled into her chest."

Ichigo threw Kon on the floor and left his room. He slammed his door with his book bag in hand and exited the house to walk with Leigh and Luna to school.

Kon rushed to the window and shouted. "YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS BECAUSE I GOT TO DO IT BEFORE YOU DID!"

***

Leigh turned her head from there walking when she heard something yelling. It sounded like someone being jealous or something for one reason or another.

"Did you hear something?"

Ichigo mentally promised the damn doll death when he returned from school.

"No, don't worry about it." Ichigo shook his head. He squeezed her hand that were interlaced with his fingers. Leigh nodded and all three headed to school.

They separated and said goodbye to Luna as she had to leave for the freshman section of the school. They received multiple stares from others as they saw the new Ichigo and Leigh arrived to school. They noticed that the two had been gradually getting closer as some time passed by, but to see the cute girl walking hand in hand with "a scary punk" was a little shocking.

As they were just outside the classroom Ichigo's usual annoyance-slash-friend Asano Keigo made his daily appearance.

"_Great, with him seeing this, I wonder what he'll do today?_" Ichigo thought refering his and Leigh's hands.

"ICHI-" Keigo stopped short. "Eh? Eh? EH? W-What is this!?" Keigo shouted wide-eyed.

Mizuiro popped up, perfectly timed as per usual. "Isn't it obvious Asano-san?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo, are you and Potter together?" Keigo asked dumbfounded.

Ichigo sighed. Leigh smiled at Keigo's antics. "Yes Keigo. We are," He replied.

"You mean like a real boyfriend and girlfriend? As in to say your hands are not just conveniently glued together, giving off the appearance that one of my best friends and the 'new girl' are actually going out?" Keigo asked just to make sure.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and dropped Leigh's hand. "Yes, you see, our hands are not glued together."

As Ichigo proved his point, Leigh felt the loss of his comfortable warmth. With a happy feeling inside her heart, she left the three boys to their own devices. It was nearly time for class anyway. She sat at her usual desk, taking out a notebook and pen, then a shadow hovered over her. She tensed on the verge of panic. She took a deep breath and tried relaxing with a mantra she repeated in her mind over and over.

"_No, no, no. There's no Death Eaters here. Just take a deep breath, turn around, and greet them normally." _

She turned around and back up with a near invisible flinch when blond-bobbed hair appeared right in her face.

"Geez, make a noise. You startled me," Leigh said.

"Ah gomen, gomen," He said waving.

"Wait a minute. You are Hirako Shinji right? The other new student that was supposed to come in with me, but didn't?"

Mr. Bobbed-Hair nodded with a wide grin. "Hai! I'm so happy."

Leigh sweat dropped. "N-No problem." "_Is he seriously that happy I remembered his name_?"

This guy was kind of strange, but then again she was no stranger to the word. However, he seemed nice. Hirako backed off, turning around to the front as students gathered into the classroom. Sensei was the final person to arrive. Leigh let out a subconscious breath of relief that she didn't realize she was holding as she saw the irritated expression on Ichigo's face. It wasn't necessarily the exprsesion that calmed her, more like his presence. She relaxed as he sat behind her.

"Good morning class. I'm going to take attendence. I see everyone is present today," She greeted with a smile. "I hope everyone's finished there class assignments due this week." Some shifted nervously at the sensei's threatening smile and others didn't so much as flinch. "Well, anyway I'll get back to that topic later, but for now I'd like to reintroduce a student who was supposed to come in the same day as Potter-san over here," She said gesturing to the blond.

Hirako laughed scratching the back of his head. "Ah, I'm sorry I couldn't make it. You see my mother was not feeling well that day and she gave me a call to return home and help take care of her."

Sensei dabbed her eyes with a hanky. She was clearly a sucker for sob stories and apparently some of the other girls in this room were too. Now that Leigh thought about it, the day of her own introduction she thought she'd seen piteous looks of sorrow and a few look at her with anxiety. Leigh shook her head in disbelief.

"Don't worry though. She's doing much better. Ha ha, I suppose you want my name. You may call me Hirako Shinji," He said with a big smile. "Oh, sensei can I sit next to a cute girl. Huh? Can I?" He asked turning to sensei.

"_Fake smile! A playboy, just as I suspected._" Leigh's internal alarm pointed out. (refer to chapter 2)

"Hm, let's see about that," Sensei looked at her seating arrangements. "You can sit..."

Leigh looked behind her and smiled with amusement when she noticed that Ichigo was in his own little world, clearly not paying attention to the new student. She wondered what he was thinking about.

"You can sit next to Kurosaki," Sensei said.

Ichigo looked up when he heard his name, and he only just noticed a new student had arrived in the school.

"Hello neighbor," Hirako said.

Ichigo gave a short nod before turning back to the front.

"Let's be good friends," Hirako said also glancing at the Leigh.

Leigh tensed feeling his gaze. "_Yep, a playboy with a hidden agenda. We'll see where this goes."_

Ichigo turned his head to the side with an awkward feeling flowing inside him, but he did not pay close attention to it. Instead, he went back into his own little world where he could think about Leigh and hope no hollows decide to show themselves.

* * *

A/N: Shinji is back. He'll have a more active roll for a while like in the anime/manga. On a fun note, he'll flirt with Leigh and Orihime and piss Ichigo off. Maybe Uryu too since he likes Orihime.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Any mistakes in the chapter will be fixed later

Next Chapter: Arrancar


	11. The Start of Worry

Broken Soul

A.N: Okay, so it's not the arrancars just yet, but I'm getting there. Enjoy the short chapter.

Warning: Episode 113 spoilers

Chapter 11

Worry

Ichigo lay in bed face down. His thoughts weren't good and he was glad Leigh was at home so she wouldn't worry. Last night he found out that this Hirako Shinji wasn't who he said he was. He was actually a vizard, a shinigami with a hollow inside. It turned out that the real reason he came to the school was to search him out to join them. He refused not trusting him and went straight towards the reiatsu he was feeling, but once he arrived it already vanished. Now his thoughts turned to his inner hollow.

'Even if I forced him away the mask comes back even if I throw it out. Now he's disappeared. What's going on? At first he acts almost human since Leigh's arrived but now... nothing. Hirako doesn't need to mention it. I know. Sooner or later he'll take over me if I'm not careful.'

**'Sooner or later huh?'**

Ichigo sat up.

**'What? Are you scared. Well, maybe you aught to be. You're so easy to figure out. Did you really think I'd give up on trying to take control just because I backed off a little when you got yourself a girl? How funny. Well, maybe I have a different reason to take over now.'**

Ichigo scowled. 'And what would that be?'

**'Well, if you're that scared of me. What's to say you're strong enough to protect Leigh?'**

Ichigo face darkened.

**'I'm going to draw closer and closer to you. I'll go much faster now. Not just anytime you fight against other hollows. Whenever I feel like it. Then after that I'll make Leigh mine and there won't be a thing you can do.'** The Hollow look alike laughed. **"I'm drawing closer to you now than I was ever before. At this rate I'm going to devour you. Then you'll disappear."**

Ichigo's eyes widened.

**"Things aren't looking so good for you. See ya later. And you better protect Leigh. Who knows what could happen to her when I take over."**

Ichgo furrowed his eyes. "What do I do?" Ichigo thought that his hollow had backed off, but now is certainly not the case.

A light tap came from his window. He looked around. It was Leigh. She had a frown on her face. He opened the window then wrapped her in his arms. Leigh accepted the hug slightly surprised, but not unhappy. However, she noticed the tension in his body. He didn't come to school today, so she walked with Luna instead of it being the trio together. A part of her thought that maybe he had to leave early for some reason, but she knew he would have left her a message.

She tried to pull back but Ichigo tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. He wanted to hide just for a while longer. Leigh smoothed the hair closest to his neck. She felt herself be maneuvered so they were both inside his room. She now lay in his bed with Ichigo half way on top of her. His hold didn't loosen for a second.

"What's wrong?" Leigh asked worried.

"Nothing." Leigh could barely contain her disbelief at the lie but let it go. He sounded tired. "Just stay here with me."

"I'm here," she answered. She continued running a hand through his hair coaxing him to relax. It worked gradually as Ichigo repeated his words three more times. She didn't hesitate to answer every time. She pulled back only slightly when she realized his silence. He fell asleep. She brought him closer so his head returned to the crook of her neck and returned to running her fingers in his bright hair. She gave a small frown wondering what was wrong. She decided to worry about that later as her eyes drooped. She soon joined him in sleep whispering her repeated answer. "I'm here."


End file.
